Connected Hearts
by Shonex
Summary: Takes place 5 months after the broken barrier. It's been peaceful for so long and everyone's finally gotten used to their new monster residents. Good things don't last though, that's proven when the death of a dear friend provokes the entire town to react. What people don't realize is that the enemy they fight against are just as innocent as them. Sequel to RESET to SAVE.
1. A Time Later

**Welcome to my second ever Undertale fanfiction! This is a sequel to another story that I'm finishing up pretty soon "RESET and SAVE". I suggest you go read that one first before taking a looksie at this one. That's because there are some things in this story that will be talked about and will most likely go clear over your head if you don't know what happened in the other story. Nevertheless, I shall try and give a rundown of what happened as the story goes along. This chapter is going to focus on what happens with Anna at school. I hope you enjoy this new story and chapter! Until then!**

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My name is Anna Sathe. My last name is pronounced "say the". I am an eleven year old girl that currently lives near the entrance of a forest which leads to Mount Ebott. Because of this, we're a long way from my home town, Jaliceport. It was five months after all the monsters and I had finally broken the barrier and gotten aboveground. Things were still pretty shaky for a while, but they've mostly calmed down. Up near Mount Ebott, the gang and I have been able to go about our daily lives peacefully. We'd have our arguments now and then, but things were alright. Toriel and Asgore were speaking to each other, but it was mostly small conversations. Sans and Papyrus were still being their goofy selves. Sans would watch over me like some sort of guardian. Charles, my eleven year old brother, goes to Jaliceport Middle now. I'm now a fifth grader at Jaliceport Primary. My father, Gerald, is Undyne's constant rival and partner when it comes to battling. Undyne and Alphys are in a relationship now. They hang out with each other often and are usually off out of the house on weekends. Now that Gaster isn't mentally bothering Sans anymore, Sans has been pretty normal now. He isn't constantly tired like he used to be and will usually just conk right out if he hits a pillow.

Frisk brought Flowey out of the underground in a flowerpot. While Flowey is in the pot, he can't move around like he used to. This keeps him from causing trouble to other people. He's often in Frisk's room, on a windowsill. Frisk and Gaster are teaching me how sign language works. I'm not at sentences yet though. I know how to say "yes" and "no" at least. Gerald is now able to go off on his job without having to worry about Charles and I being by ourselves out here. Sans, Toriel, or Asgore is usually nearby to keep an eye on us. It's usually Sans who does the watching, though. He and I would commonly sling puns at each other now and then and have an all around good time. The gang and I would all get around and talk about various things that go on during the week. The six children all have their SOULs back. Fortunately, Chara isn't around anymore. Not all was good though. Because I've been underground for such a long time, I have a reputation at school. The other kids will call me "Monster Girl" because my friends are monsters. It's no better for Charles either, though he's able to defend himself just fine if he's in any trouble. It got worse, however...

"Anna!" I hear Charles call,"Come see this!"

I walk over to the couch and see what Charles is up to. He's in his usual outfit, a long sleeved red shirt with black shorts. Charles points towards the TV and I see a female news reporter on the screen looking slightly frantic. I can't imagine what in the world could possibly be bothering the woman. Sitting down, I payed close attention to the screen. The problem became clear after the words came out of her mouth.

"At approximately ten at night, a young male came across a cluster of monster dust gathered near the center of Jaliceport. It appears a murder has taken place around the statue of our town's founder, Kevin Skarp Jr," The reporter says.

What in the world happened!? It's been peaceful for the while everyone has been aboveground! I can't imagine what in the world could have caused this.

"The dust appears to be spelt out in some sort of message," She continues.

A small picture shows up of the dust in the area. "The Resistance" is what it says. This must've been some sort of hate crime against monsters. There's absolutely no other reason why this problem should've happened. Discrimination at its finest, although I would've never guess humans would've gone to _manslaughter_...monster slaughter...I don't even know...But considering what happened with Asriel, it's not completely off the table.

"Snarere end rapportere det, gør noget!" I hear my dad yell at the screen.

Charles flinches at the sudden loud voice. Grandpa Baxter is Danish so, naturally, Dad learned the language himself when he was younger. He knows how to speak English and is multilingual, but his mother tongue will escape him if he's angry. Unfortunately, I haven't quite grasped the entire language myself, so I often have to ask what Dad said. Charles understands it completely though.

"Um, come again?" I ask.

"It's always the same," Dad says,"Instead of doing something about the issue, they report it as if it's just another daily murder. IT ISN'T! MONSTERS HAVE DONE NOTHING TO DESERVE THIS!"

"something up, gerald?" I hear another voice say.

I look around a bit before seeing Sans laying on the couch with us, lazily. I yelp and begin to fall off of it. Sans just pulls me back onto the couch with his bony hand. He practically sinks his full weight into it. Sans still had that smile he always did. It was comforting knowing he could just go with the flow at all times. He pulls me close to him with one of his arms and we watch the television. I couldn't relax though, whatever was going on unnerved me to death.

"Se for dig selv!" Dad says, infuriated.

Dad then walks off yelling things in Danish. He does this because he knows I can't understand Danish just yet. Charles on the other hand covers his ears with a frightened look. Dad _is_ pretty terrifying when he gets angry. Undyne is usually the person to try and get him to calm down, though.

"What'd he say, Charles?" I ask.

"I'd tell you, sis, but Dad would ground me for a month if I did," Charles replies.

I look at Sans, who's staring at the TV with a sort of angry. He isn't smiling, that's for certain, but he isn't outright burning a blue flame. The light within his eyesocket is fading, though. I try not to pressure him and look back at the screen. Apparently they've found a man involved with the incident. They were trying to escape the police once the dust was found.

"Who do you think was-"

" **Gerson** ," Sans interrupts.

I look at the screen and had to squint a bit. But in the background, where the police were holding the evidence, I could see a safari hat and magnifying glass. They _definitely_ belonged to Gerson. My mouth drops open a slight bit and I frown. Gerson was a great person to talk to if you had any sort of new things to examine. Mostly, people brought gems from the canyon near our place to Gerson and they would see which one it was with him. He knew a lot because he was one of the oldest monsters around. Apparently, from what Undyne said, he fought alongside others in the first war against humans. Now, it looks like he couldn't keep up the pacing. The man that the police had found was yelling at the camera. He was handcuffed and being restrained by two officers. The man twists and turns, trying to get away.

"ALL OF YOU FREAKS NEED TO GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM," he yells,"YOU'RE ALL DEAD I TELL YOU. DEAD!"

I clench my teeth at the man's words. I was about to grab the remote, but Sans blocks my hand. The light in his eyesocket is completely gone now. I lean back onto the couch and try not to anger him any more than he already was.

"AND THOSE OF YOU THAT DEFEND THEM, YOU'RE ALL DEAD TOO!" the man screeches,"YOU'RE ALL GOING TO BURN IN HELL!"

"Anna!" I hear another voice from upstairs,"It is almost time for the bus to get here! Please, get ready!"

That sounded like Asgore. Right! Today was Monday. Charles' school has the day off for repairs and improvements. Toriel had taken over as the principal of the place. Apparently, Undyne was in the gym, teaching kids how to climb a rope. While giving a demonstration, the panels on the ceiling collapsed from the pressure. Needless to say, Undyne isn't going anywhere near the gym for a while. I run up to my room and grab my usual blue sweater with a black music note. Putting it on, I grab my blue and white striped scarf. I take my black hoodie and put that on too. Today was going to be another struggle, hopefully it lessens. Things have been pretty shaky, but I have the other kids at school to look forward too...well...only six of them. The six children that had fallen down from Mount Ebott.

-88-

Finally reaching lunchtime, I walk up to the other six outside. The entire playground was covered in a layer of snow. My friends are gathered in a circle, talking to each other. We don't usually have much to talk about. Our daily routine consists of running away from the bullies around school. The kids names were, Alice, Owen, Belle, Yusef, Gene, and Percival.

 **Y** usef was the oldest of all of us. He was 14 because he'd been held back a few years. He's the most disciplined and the strongest, though he has a bit of a short temper. When it comes to strength, Yusef says we're better off in a group than alone. He's all about acting for the greater good. We all listen to him since he knows the most out of all of us. Though, Percival usually handles the role of the mind. Yusef helps me lead the group, he's the powerhouse. He carries a toy gun and wears a cowboy hat. **Justice**.

 **G** ene was in the middle of us all in terms of age, 12. He was the kindest of the group. He would always take the time to understand problems we had and was immensely generous. His parents are teaching him how to cook, actually. One time, for a costume party, he came to school in an apron and carried a frying pan. **Kindness**.

 **P** ercival was the brains of the group, 13 years. He was always taking notes and keeping things in line. He was Yusef's right hand man. Most of his topics involve the classes we're taking or how long we've been studying for our next test. He'll always be the one we go to if we need help with math problems. He carries a notebook and wears glasses. **Perseverance**.

 **A** lice was the youngest of the group. 10 years. She was open minded and open-hearted. She was the quiet one in the group, not really speaking much unless she was surprised or spoken to. When she DID speak, it was often in a low voice. Everyone has to stop talking to hear her. She used to have a ribbon, but no longer carries it around. This is because I have it braided into my hair. **Patience**.

 **O** wen was the largest of all of us, 11 years. He's often traversing the halls and keeping an eye out for the bullies. He was the bravest out of all of us and took to issues that we'd most likely cower from. He was all about standing up for what was right and watching over us. He's the second strongest of the group. His job is to keep all of us out of trouble, though he focuses mostly on Yusef. He often wore gloves and a red bandanna. **Bravery**.

 **B** elle was the honest one, 13 years. She was often seen in her usual tutu and ballet shoes. She often spoke her mind on most things. She feels that honesty is the way through life. To her, it helps let her know which people are okay and which she should stay away from at all costs. It's how she found us to be good friends. We can deal with her. **Integrity**

I walk up to them and, naturally, Yusef was the one to notice me. He towered over everyone else in the group and was unnaturally tall for his age. six feet I think. He waves and the rest of them turn to me, smiling like they always do.

"Took you long enough!" Belle says.

"She was right on schedule, Belle," says Alice.

"It felt like forever!"

"But it was only five minutes since lunch started!"

"It didn't FEEL that way..."

Belle and Alice go back and forth and Yusef walks up to me. He grabs me and hoists me over his right shoulder. I can see the entire playground outside from where I am. Yusef really WAS strong. You'd mistake him for the younger version of my dad. He didn't have red hair, so that theory would be debunked pretty quickly. He looks up and smiles at me a tiny bit. I give him an even bigger smile. When Sans wasn't around, Yusef would watch me along with every other kid here. Yusef puts me down and we head back to the group. Gene walks up to me. He seems to bounce as he walks.

"You seem bothered by something," Gene says to me,"What happened?"

The rest of the group gathers around to begin talking about the events of today. Gene is waiting for my answer while the others just look at me, doing the same. I remember the news report I had heard today and take a deep breath. I didn't want to do this, but if they wanted to know...also Belle would just pressure me until I said something.

"So...I saw something on the news today," I said,"Sans didn't really enjoy the sight of it,"

"Funnybones?" Owen says, crossing his arms,"What's his deal?"

"Well...a monster was killed yesterday night...Gerson,"

"WHAT!?" they all yell.

I just cringe and clench my fists. It was definitely Gerson. There was nobody else it could be.

"Poor Gerson..." says Gene.

"It wasn't his time yet," Yusef says,"He was one of my favorites,"

"Gerson taught me the history of the UNDERGROUND," Pervical adds,"That symbol on Toriel's robe is the Delta Rune,"

"We're not talking about the Delta Rune, Percival!" Belle snaps.

Percival just coughs and turns away, embarrassed. Alice turns her head down and closes her eyes. She does this when she's thinking strongly about something or is praying. I'm assuming both are in play right about now because of what just happened. We all sit there and hope that today goes better than yesterday. Not much has gone down this entire week besides that small incident. The bell rings and we head off to class. Gene, Percival, and Belle were in English Language Arts while Yusef, Owen, and I were in Social Studies. We had ninety minutes in this class. Thirty had gone by so far. I search around the room a bit while Mr. Sanchez gives his lecture. He seemed to be pretty drawn into it, because he didn't notice that Yusef was getting crumpled up pieces of paper thrown at him. I look over and see one of the bullies at our school Damien Brackett. He was the big boss of the gang and would constantly harass the group and I. He seemed to get a kick out of chasing us around campus. Yusef ignores the torment at first because, as far as he was concerned, Damien was just another kid wanting to get at somebody just for the sake of being a jerk.

I started to notice Yusef tapping his foot a bit impatiently. He's looking at the clock pretty often and is generally unfocused during the entire lecture. I sat a small bit away from Yusef so there was no way I was going to be able to calm him down without being spotted. Owen sat right next to him, and he was doing a pretty good job keeping the big guy sane. I was worried that things were going to escalate if Damien didn't quit throwing paper. Eventually, the bell rings to let us all out of school. I pack my things and head out of class with a worried look on my face. I turn around to see Yusef walking out of class, his face is darkened and he's clenching his fists tightly. Owen was by his side, rubbing his back and trying to get the guy to not explode on the first person he saw. The gang and I gather up in our circle like we always do. I had to wait around campus until Sans or somebody else came to get me. Toriel made it clear that I shouldn't travel alone, even though I did that mostly throughout my underground journey.

Damien's gang walks up to us and Yusef steps out in front, facing Damien. Damien was shorter than Yusef, but wasn't afraid to make enemies with the guy. Not a smart move if you ask me. The other kids already know what Yusef is like when he's angry, so they tend to not pick fights with him. Like I said, he's like a younger, non-redhead version of my dad. Dad's already scary enough when he's in a rage.

"Leave us alone Damien," Yusef warns,"We've been through this already. Nobody wants you bothering us!"

"As long as we're out, I can do whatever I feel like," Damien claims,"Besides, what are you going to do about it?"

Yusef starts breathing slightly heavier than usual. Like natural, Owen notices and starts pulling Yusef away by his arm. Damien laughs at this and I scowl at him.

"Nice job, kid. You need your tub of flab to keep you calm," Damien mocks,"I guess you need 'Monster Girl' to teach you how to act normal around those freaks, huh?"

Yusef only gets angrier. At this point, Alice and Gene back away slowly. The other kids in the hallway form a circle around Yusef and Damien along with his gang.

"Don't call her that!" Yusef yells in my defense.

"Or what?" Damien taunts,"What is a guy like you gonna do?"

Damien walks over to me. I back away, but he just grabs the front of my hoodie. Damien then turns his head towards Yusef and gives a smug smile. Percival thinks this is a fitting time to step in.

"Damien, we've already made it clear that neither of us don't need any more issues," Percival explains,"Haven't we BOTH had enough shenanigans for one day?"

Damien shoves me to the ground and heads over to Percival, who stares back at him, unfazed. Owen and Belle help me to my feet and I watch as the situation only gets worse.

"Listen, if you think for a second that explaining "haven't we BOTH had enough shenanigans" is going to make me stop, you're a bigger idiot than Too-tall over there,"

That was it, Yusef slams his fist into Damien's back, _hard_. Damien shouts in pain and sprawls onto the ground. The teachers come over, see the commotion and direct everyone out of the school. Yusef wasn't caught, miraculously. The gang and I sit on the benches in the park outside of campus.

"What was that!?" Percival snaps.

"I-I don't know..." Yusef says.

Yusef hand his head in his hands. He still seemed a bit peeved at Damien because he was still breathing in that same heavy way from before. Sans eventually comes up from behind all of us.

"hey, kiddo," He says to me,"time to get goin',"

"Hi, Sans!" I reply,"Alrighty then. Bye guys!"

"Bye, Anna!" they all say.

-88-

"i saw what happened," Sans says,"that kid seems to really care for your sake, huh?"

"Well, he's one of my closest friends!" I reply,"We all look out for each other because we're a team!"

Sans chuckles to himself and we continue on home.

"He'll pull through," I assure," Nothing **tibia** worried about!"

Sans laughs at my pun. I've gotten a lot better at appreciating bad puns. In the UNDERGROUND, as soon as I met Sans, I've enjoyed them. Papyrus detests this sort of thing, but we get a good laugh out of it. There were times we would even try and see who could aggravate Papyrus the most. They go pretty well, like expected.

-88-

Asgore was sitting at the table with Gerald, they were having their daily talk over Golden Flower Tea. It had taken a while, but Gerald seems to love it just as much as Asgore does now. Alphys was sitting with Charles and they were discussing their favorite TV shows. Undyne and Papyrus were cooking (with their own vegetables, Gerald won't allow otherwise) for the household. They'd actually gotten much better. I remember there was this one time Paps made spaghetti that was actually edible, it tasted good too! Toriel was teaching Frisk basic math. Toriel had always wanted to be a teacher, actually. She seems to be good at what she does. Everyone at Jaliceport Middle seems to love her.

"Knock knock,"

"who's there?"

"Hoo..."

"hoo who?"

" **I didn't know you were an owl!** "

"i love this kid!"

"UGH! YOU TWO ARE STILL AT IT!?" Papyrus yells,"CAN'T YOU TWO DO SOMETHING OTHER THAN SITTING AROUND ALL DAY!?"

"nope," Sans says.

"Too lazy..." I add.

"I hope things weren't too bad in class, Undyne..."

"Nah, they loved it!," Undyne insists,"That was the best I've ever gotten outta 'em!"

"Seems like they really got..." I begin.

" **the gravity of the situation!** " Sans finishes.

Toriel starts laughing and Papyrus groans loudly again. Sans and I high five. Frisk comes downstairs with Flowey and everybody just gets quiet. They stare at the plant as it snores. Frisk says "boo" and Flowey wakes up, screaming. Everyone in the room starts laughing and Flowey just looks around, confused. Apparently he was still half asleep. When I asked him how his day was, he said...

"Who's Flowey?"

"Guys... **Flowey forgot his roots.**.." I joke.

"this kid!" Sans says, laughing.

Toriel is howling with laughter at this point. Papyrus just shakes his head and goes back to cooking. Asgore is laughing a tiny bit, but he's shaking his head as a result of all the craziness.

This is my family, and family should always be together.

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 **I hope that was a fitting beginning to the chapter. I don't quite know which direction I'm going to put this story in, but it'll surely be exciting. I hope this story is going to be enjoyable for lots of people! I've always wanted a story that continues on into the next so this is a bit of a dream come true for me. Anyways, if you enjoyed this chapter, review, favorite, or follow. Until then!**


	2. Life Hurts

**This chapter...HO HO! THIS CHAPTER! It is going to be the pinnacle of Gerald's Danish language! It will make all men whimper when they hear his mighty yelling! IT WILL BE GLORIOUS! HAHAHAHAHA!...Ahem...Please enjoy the chapter...**

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It was quiet the next day. I was excused from school to attend Gerson's funeral. Monster funerals are a lot different from our own. As most of you already know, monsters turn into dust when they die. When the funeral for that monster is held, they take that dust and scatter it on the monster's favorite thing. For Gerson, it was his magnifying glass. No matter how many times I'd ask to hold it, Gerson would never give it to me. He'd let me look through it to examine jewels though.

Gerson was an amazing turtle. He'd always help the kids learn the history of the UNDERGROUND. I was around one time and got to witness kids from the ages seven to twelve gather around and listen to him speak about how they came to live in the UNDERGROUND. He was the inspiration for kids that wanted to grow up to be archaeologists. They'd dress like him sometimes for fun. Yep, Gerson was loved by so many people...I can't believe he's gone...

The people I met at school had shown up that day, they'd gathered around in that circle like they always do. Gene was trying not to cry and Belle was comforting him. Yusef stood with Percival and Owen as they looked over the entire church. It'd taken us a bit to arrange this, the pastor was being difficult. Undyne and Owen took care of it, though.

"Don't screw this up, OR ELSE," they say.

-88-

Everyone in the house sat around and listened to the television. It was the same as any other day. The house was warm because it was cold and snowy outside. Everyone was bundled up in warm clothing. It actually took quite a while before things returned to this point. When we got home, Sans just sat lazily on the couch and stared at the ceiling. There were no jokes, no yelling from Papyrus, and no Golden Flower Tea. Dad had been reminded of the incident when we came home from the funeral so he was angry again. Charles just covered his ears so he wouldn't hear the Danish expletives Dad was using. A while later, after everything got back to normal, a knock sounded at the door. It was soon followed by several others.

"I'll get it!" Charles says.

He quickly runs to the door and opens it. He gave a smile and welcomed whoever was at the door into the house. It was my friends I talk to at school all the time. They took in the amount of space we had. Asgore was drinking Golden Flower Tea before he chokes on it and starts coughing at the sight of the kids.

"Hey, this IS big!" Belle says,"You weren't lying!"

"Well you're all about honesty," Percival says,"It just wouldn't make sense for her to lie. And she has nothing to lie about anyway,"

"And she's our friend!" Gene adds,"Friends don't lie to friends!"

"Who are these kids, Anna?" Gerald asks.

"The six kids I told you guys about. The ones that fell down Mount Ebott," I explain.

"Anna, how about you show them around?" Toriel suggests,"I think they would appreciate it,"

I nod and bring them all upstairs. I gave them a quick tour of who's room belonged to who and ended at my room. There wasn't much to my room. I had a bed that had a red checkered quilt over the bottom sheets. There was this large mirror in my room that I used to check out the outfits I wore. The entire room had light blue wallpaper and white carpeting. My brown dresser had two framed pictures that sat there. A little flap at the back stood them up without any sort of nails. One of them, a family photo. There was me, my dad, my brother, and the other monsters including Flowey. The other one...

"Well," Alice says,"That's cute!"

"That one," Owen says,"When was that, Anna?"

The second framed photo was a picture of me and Sans hugging back in Snowdin. I still have no idea who took the photo, but it was with my dad a few days after we left the UNDERGROUND. Boy was Sans upset about that photo, he looked ready to hurt the person who took that picture. Of course, he has no idea either, so nice job on the photographer's part. That photo has been sitting there for the entire five months I've returned above ground.

"Back at Snowdin," I say,"Sans was really helpful, you know,"

"Yeah, he seems to really care about you," Yusef says,"All of the monsters do,"

-88-

Onto what they looked like...

Owen was a pudgy boy with brown hair in a Bowl Cut that covered both of his eyes. He was wearing white overalls with an orange shirt today. He had a black coat over that. He had brown shoes on his feet. The kid had freckles on both of his cheeks. His eyes, though you couldn't see them, were dark blue. He was right handed.

Alice was a fair-sized girl. She had her blonde hair in a Ponytail. She had a slight blush on each cheek and sported light brown eyes. She was wearing an aqua long-sleeved shirt with black pants. She had black shoes. She was right handed.

Gene was the shortest of all of us, though he was in between us all when it came to age. He had green colored overalls with a white shirt and white shoes. He had his same light blue eyes and his black hair was a flat-top hairstyle. Along with that, rosy red cheeks. He was a lefty.

Belle had brown hair with white highlights. It was swept off to the right of her head, covering her right eye, but leaving her left visible. She had an unusual crimson red eye color. She was wearing a blue dress with long sleeves. She had gray shoes on. She was right handed.

Percival was a black haired boy who had his hair in a Wings hairstyle. He had a violet v-neck shirt and brown pants along with striped black and white shoes. His eyes were a clear green color. He was the only person who wore glasses out of all of us. He was right handed.

Yusef was the tallest of all of them. He had bushy eyebrows and his golden brown hair was short at the sides and back and flopped forwards at the front. He was dressed in a yellow woolly winter coat, far too large for myself, black pants and shoes. He had the eye color of hazel.

-88-

We're outside in the garden behind the house. Toriel and Asgore come out here with Flowey to tend to all the different flowers back here. There were the usual golden flowers and Chrysanthemums, but there were also flowers that weren't from our town. Some of which were roses of every color, tulips, lotuses, there were so many of them. The pond was frozen over and snow hid the ground from our watching eyes. All of us turn when we hear footsteps behind us. There was Asgore, giving a look of concern. Everyone else is acting A-Okay.

"H-howdy! Ahem, humans..." Asgore says.

"Hello!" My friends all say.

Asgore looks away for a small bit and takes a deep breath.

"I...want to apologize for so long ago," He says,"I was only trying to give my people hope by promising I'd break the barrier for them. I didn't want to hurt anyone..."

Gene, being the welcoming kid he always was, walks up to Asgore and grabs onto his large arm with both hands.

"Well, I forgive you!" Gene says,"Regardless of the hard times we've had. If you're a friend of Anna, you're a friend of mine!"

"...If Gene trusts you..."Anna walks up to Asgore and nods.

"I won't sugarcoat this. You're a good king, but you failed to think things through before you started the issue," Belle says,"None of us got a say in anything. It was death whenever we were seen,"

"I-I..." Asgore falters.

Percival keeps his stoic expression, but tries to resolve things.

"Listen, Belle, I realize that his actions may have not been the most...efficient," Percival begins,"But he has done well in leading his kind. Without him, they would've died out. And he just wished to give them the thing they yearned for so long, freedom,"

Belle folds her arms and turns her head the other way. Percival walks up to Asgore and stands by his side. I naturally walk over to Asgore, having being by his side for so long. Yusef walks up to Asgore and holds his hand out. They shake each other's hand, accepting each other. Belle turns her head back to find everyone else standing near Asgore. Belle groans.

"Fiiiine, but only because everyone else trusts you!" Belle says.

As soon as she walks over, Asgore pulls us all into a gigantic hug. That was another weight off of my shoulders. I didn't have to worry about Asgore and my friends arguing. I guess five months of time caused them to let go of that issue. Good for me, no more conflicts!

"I heard people talking," A voice says,"Who is it?"

Toriel steps out into the frozen wonderland outside. Alice leads Asgore by his hand over to Toriel. Yusef picks me up and carries me on his left shoulder. I can see the entire garden in it's icy glory. It was a magnificent sight. Everything shimmered in a layer of white. My friends threw snowballs and rolled around in the snow with Toriel and Asgore. They're having tons of fun out there in the white blanket.

"You're enjoying the sight, huh?" Yusef asks,"You can tell a lot about a person by looking at their eyes,"

"Really?" I ask.

"It's pretty easy one you get the hang of it," He says,"Your eyes are slightly wide, and they shimmer with the sight of white,"

"You could tell all that much?" I ask him,"Why haven't I known about this sooner?"

"You're not the only one with surprises,"He says,"I just prefer to keep mine hidden for longer,"

It was getting too cold to stay outside, so we all head back indoors and grab some hot chocolate. Sans, as soon as he spots me, pulls a icy blue sweater over my head and makes me wear it. It was a blue diamond checkered shirt that Papyrus had knitted for me. He had some designs for other people as well. Surprisingly enough, it kept warmth easily! Though, the sleeves drooped off my hands from being too long and the sweater was a bit large for my size.

" **sathe** word and i'll have paps make a smaller one for ya, anna,"

I laugh a bit at his joke.

"You did not just do that," I say between chuckles.

"what if i did?"

I tackle him to the floor and sit on his back.

"I'd have to **rattle your bones!** "

Sans laughs a bit to himself.

He rolls and I fall off of him. I sit up and Sans pulls me to my feet. Everyone gathers around the fireplace in the living room and tells tales of the UNDERGROUND to my friends. Alice is sitting with Frisk in Toriel's lap in a rocking chair, listening to her words. Percival is talking to Alphys about the experiments that took place in her lab. She's a lot more open about talking about that subject now. There'll be the occasional awkward pause from her, but she's mostly okay with is wrestling around with Undyne, as usual. They often compete to see who the stronger person is. Charles is watching the windows, looking at the snow falling silently to the ground.

Sans is sitting with Yusef and I. Belle is helping Papyrus cook by giving him honest criticism. Owen and Flowey are standing watch over the group, making sure everything is okay. Gene is sitting with Asgore, listening to him talk about all the pictures that covered the walls of our house. There was a photo from when we left the barrier and arrived at my house. There was the time we covered Asgore in snow and turned him into an Asgore-Snowman.

"hey, **how's the weather up there?** " Sans asks Yusef.

I look towards the latter, who is staring down at Sans with a blank expression. He seemed fine earlier, but now...Yusef isn't laughing. I was getting worried that Sans had hit a nerve.

"lost your **funny bone?** " Sans asks.

Sans' smile was faltering, and he turns his skull from side to side. An awkward silence just hung over the area. I start shifting back and forth on my feet.

"No, I have a joke," Yusef says," **I just don't think you'd be able to stomach it** ,"

Sans turns his head towards the ceiling and lets out a loud laugh. His bones were literally being rattled from that joke. Yusef just grins at me and winks, letting me know everything was fine. He walks over to me shortly after.

"Did I do that right?" Yusef asks.

"Totally, he's practically dying from that," I say,"Nice job!"

"It was YOUR joke,"

"YOU'RE the one that said it, though,"

Yusef gives up trying to convince me that I deserve the credit. I'm stubborn like a mule, if I set my mind to something hard enough, I won't give up on that goal.

"Papyrus, I like how you're progressing,"Belle says,"But you gotta hold off on the salt by JUST a lot. After that, hit that sauce with some peppers and you're good to go!"

"THANK YOU, HUMAN!" Papyrus says,"FINALLY! I HAVE MORE RECOGNITION FOR MY SPAGHETTI AND NATURAL TALENT!"

"You're working there," Belle says,"DON'T get cocky,"

"Ooh! Ooooh! Asgore! What's this photo?" Gene asks,"It's really nice to look at. It's like a winter wonderland!"

"That is Snowdin, Anna had gone there searching for Papyrus and Sans," Asgore explains,"I routinely make trips there to visit Grillby's. Everyone knows your name there,"

"You think that the new place Grillby opened up aboveground is just like that one?" Gene questions,"I'd like to visit and see all the new friends I can make!"

"If I get the chance, and your parents allow me to bring you, we can go,"

"YAY!"

"Hey, is this all you do?" Flowey asks,"Watch people...that it?"

"Well...nothin' else for me ta do, but keep everyone safe," Owen says,"It's my job. I can't just skip out on it. That's lazy,"

"...Hey, kid, take it from me, you need a rest now and then," Flowey says,"I know that it'd be a bit strange, hearing it from someone as cynical as me, but...you seem alright,"

"Same to you, Flowey..."

"...What was the UNDERGROUND like?" Alice asks.

"It was humble when it was. Asgore made it a bit brighter when he could. He's a sweetheart," Toriel says.

'Toriel and Asgore are alike sort of,' Frisk signs,'They're both really nice and loving,'

"Headlock!" Undyne yells.

Gerald wrestles free and pins her down.

"Try harder, okay?" Gerald says,"You're too easy!"

They roll about on the floor, trying to be the champion above the entire fight.

"So...what made you admit to all of this?" Percival asks.

"It...It took some support from the friends I had," Alphys says,"I don't know if you know this, but...having friends you can fall back on...makes the world not as bad of a place as you think,"

"I'll remember that..."

-88-

Everyone had gone home, the house was filled with the same people as usual. Everyone was sitting around the fireplace, trying to hide from the cold that clashed on our outside walls. It was quiet now, the crackling of the fire could be heard as it echoed in the living room. Everything was still, everyone was quiet...It was peaceful...Then it happened.

Gunshots. And they weren't far.

Everyone freezes and scrambles to get everyone to safety. My mind was racing with questions. How are there gunshots up here? We're far from the town. We shouldn't even be able to hear them. Who's out there? Why are they here? WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DO? Toriel grabs Frisk who grabs Flowey in his pot and carries them upstairs. Alphys soon follows along with Undyne, Papyrus, Asgore, and Charles. Gerald opens the door and heads out, wanting to see what was going on.

"stay here, anna," Sans says,"i'm going to see what's up,"

Sans heads out the door with my father and I'm left in the living room. I stood there, wondering if I should listen to them, or head outside...It took a lot of careful thinking, but I decided to help them out. I was able to handle myself throughout the entire UNDERGROUND. I'll be fine. I dash out the door to see whats happening. I head in the direction of the gunshot sounds. They were still firing, and they came from the path down to Jaliceport. I keep to the shade of the trees, not wanting to draw any sort of undesirable attention. I finally made it and I peeked out to see what was going on.

Dad and Sans were standing over what looked like a collapsed body. There were two other people with guns aimed at them. I edge closer, trying to get a clear look of what it could be. I'm almost able to clearly see what's going on before I hear a voice.

"You shouldn't be snooping where you're not wanted," The voice says.

I gasp and the person covers my mouth with their hand. I'm brought out from the cover of the trees. Sans and Gerald look towards me. Gerald's mouth drops open and Sans just glares at the person taking me hostage. As I'm brought out into the light of the moon, I can see who was laying there, crippled.

Yusef...

My eyes widen and I struggle to get away from the man holding onto me. I had to help him somehow. I'm not just sitting around and letting one of my friends get hurt!

"LET HER GO!" Dad yells.

"If you say so," The man says.

He shoves me to the ground and I turn around at him. I'm surprised again as I realize the man that's standing in front of me is the same one from the TV report yesterday. He pulls a revolver gun out at me and I cover my face with one of my arms. Was I seriously going to die here? There's no way I'm going to be able to LOAD and save myself! My diary is at home, and all of my progress is in that diary.

" **Get away from her!** "

It wasn't long before a blue light picks up the man and throws him roughly into a tree. The man gets up and coughs roughly. He stumbled when he tried to take a step. I got up and turned around to see Sans, whose eyesockets burned a blue coloring. He wasn't smiling anymore. The other two men start firing their guns, but Sans blocks the bullets with his bones. He then picks the other man up again and throws him into the other two. As they scramble to get up, Sans picks up their guns and brings them back to us. Gerald picks up a large one and aims it at them. Sans summons what I assume to be one of those 'Gaster Blasters'. They freeze.

"Who are you!?" Dad asks.

"Resistance...we get rid of freaks like them," One man says, pointing towards Sans,"And punks like you,"

"What's the point of this!?" Dad questions again.

"You think humanity is okay with these guys showing up and just waltzing into OUR town!?" The man says,"Well, we're not. And this is our way of proving it,"

"But, murder!?"

The man laughs, along with his cohorts.

"Yep, if you've got a problem with it, talk to the end of my fist," He says.

Sans has enough and throws him back to the ground again. While he's down, the Gaster Blaster is fired and it just misses the man. It creates a small, snowless crater where the beam hit.

" **Get out of my sight before you REALLY have a bad time** ," Sans says, pupils dark.

The men scramble and head down back towards Jaliceport, lit by the moonlight. I walk up and see that one of the men had dropped something. It was a wallet. My instincts tell me to check the license they had. I open the wallet and take it out. I give a quick scan before my entire form is filled with dread.

Carlos Brackett...

Brackett...The same last name that Damien has...

It all started to come together, how the Resistance found us, how they managed to get a hold of Yusef...Wait a second! YUSEF! I turn around and run to Yusef, checking to see if he was okay...

...Thank god, he was still breathing. He was so injured, I thought they'd killed him. I didn't have to say anything, Sans brought Yusef back home using the blue magic from before. As Sans helps Yusef upstairs, Dad walks up to me, an enraged look on his face. I prepare for the storm.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE YOU THINKING!?" he yells.

He didn't get far in his rant because he instantly slipped into Danish.

"Du har måske døde! Hvorfor gjorde du det!?" He yells,"Har du nogen idé om, hvad Asgore ville have gjort!? Få ovenpå!"

I took that as my cue to head up to my room. Dad was mad, for sure, but then I had Sans and everyone else to deal with. I'd seen Toriel angry before. Undyne was easy to deal with. I can't imagine Papyrus nor Alphys getting angry. I can see Frisk, but it's faint...Asgore was too much of a cinnamon roll to be mad. But Sans...I was not going to enjoy the tornado of ranting I was going to get.

I stepped into my room, Sans was in there, laying Yusef down in my bed. I didn't need to worry about it being bloody. He was all cleaned up and bandaged. When Yusef was in bed, Sans just stands there, facing away from me.

" **...Why?** " he asks," **This is more of you endangering yourself** ,"

"Listen, I wanted to-"

" **This is just like what happened to you back in Snowdin** ," Sans said," **I'd thought you had learned from that. No more risks** ,"

I didn't say anything. I didn't want this situation to get worse.

" **Nothing, huh? Oh well, I didn't expect anything** ," Sans explains," **I was already so close to losing you back there...even if you weren't injured this time, it doesn't make it any better. What if you had actually DIED? What then? You didn't have that book of yours. No SAVE file to go back to. What would we do? Or, what if you're away somewhere. I can't be there to help you...** "

"You guys are my family! If you feel pain, I do too," I say,"If we're going to fight back the Resistance, we're going to fight together. If I die, then I did my job,"

Sans turns to me now, a blue line coming down off of his eyesocket and continuing off of his skull. Is he crying again?

" **But I can't AFFORD to have you die...I-I can't, okay!?** " Sans says, raising his voice," **Not ever...I'll be honest, the thought of living in a world without you around...even if you were never meant to exist...it...pains me. More than you could imagine...You're special, Anna, in more ways than one. Don't put yourself in harms way! We need you around!** "

"Sans..." I said,"I'd dealt with so many problems in the UNDERGROUND. Sure, you helped me when it counted, but I had gone through so many hardships. Why are you worrying? I'm nobody special, I'd killed everyone,"

" **That wasn't you!** " He protests," **Stop calling me back to that just to be humble!"**

"Sans, I'm not being humble,"I said,"That WAS me back there. It was MY fault. Whether you like it or not...I'm sorry,"

Sans walks up to me and throws his arms around me, hugging me in a tight grip.

"you have nothing to apologize for..."

"I'm sorry Sans..."

His grip only tightens. When he pulls away. The blue line on his skull is larger than last time. He covers his eyesocket with one of his bony arms and leaves my room, closing the door.

"there really won't be another one like her..." Sans said to himself.

* * *

 **I LOVED MAKING THIS CHAPTER. YOU HAVE NO IDEA. I wanted to bring in the Six Children again because I felt that it would help for you guys to get to know how they act a bit more. Personality is important after all. And I'm all for a bit of personality! Stories are exciting when you have your characters fully fleshed out and loveable. Anyways, be sure to review, favorite, or follow if you enjoyed this chapter. Until then!**


	3. Hide Away

**Thank you guys for taking a look at another story I had planned for you guys. This one focuses on what happens when the Resistance starts to get some more attention than what they had bargained for. I hope that this causes things to become a LOT more interesting. Anyways...I hope you enjoy this chapter! Until then!**

* * *

All was still, all was slow. I could feel my mind racing with thoughts of concern and horror. What if Yusef doesn't make it? He isn't speaking...His eyes haven't opened for at least an hour now. I won't lie, I was tired. I'd been watching him for a long while and it's waaaay past my bed time. I didn't want to sleep yet, I had to know if he was okay or not. He's my best friend, an understanding guy. I can't imagine how my life would go if he passed away. How would the others react to this? Especially innocent and kind, Gene. There's nothing for me to do, but sit here and wait for him to wake up. It was getting hard to manage that though, my eyes felt heavy and they were closed half way. I'd been awake for so long, sleep was starting to creep up on me...I closed my eyes.

I'm awake in a hall, the one from Asgore's castle. It was as golden colored as ever. I looked about the room a bit, taking in the vast amount of space it contained. For some reason, I felt uneasy, as if things were going to escalate. I continued walking, deciding to head towards Asgore's throne room/garden. I reached the end of the hall and saw Sans, same as ever. But...he seemed...off. I was about to wonder why, but Sans didn't let that get far.

"so, that's how it is, huh?" He says,"you work for this big 'happy ending', and you destroy it,"

What in the world is he...

"W-what?"

"guess i was wrong to trust you," he says,"gaster was right... **You really are just like them** ,"

"I haven't done a single thing wrong!" I protest,"Everything is okay!"

"lying to my face, you really ARE horrible,"Sans berates,"and I called you my friend,"

Sans turns away, a blue flame burning from his eyesocket. He's angry, no, infuriated.

"S-Sans, I'm not lying!" I yell,"I...I'd never lie!"

"where'd you get all that LOVE, kid?" he asks,"where'd the dust come from?"

He wasn't lying, I was covered in dust. It took a while before I realized what timeline I had stepped in. The one Sans had witnessed. The one where everyone died...because of me. This must be the place where the final battle with Sans had happened. My other self described Sans as a powerful being. That certainly caught my attention. His eye was still flaring, and a chill went up my spine. I tried to call him off, not wanting this to escalate.

"Sans, PLEASE!"

" **Do you wanna have a bad time?** "

"NO, SANS, PLEASE DON-AAAAAAAAAH!"

A Gaster Blaster drowns out my screams.

-88-

I'm shaken awake by someone. I gasp and looked around frantically before my eyes rested on a tall figure. Yusef, and he looked worried. There was a bright light shining through my window. It was morning. Yusef had bandages wrapped around his stomach and chest.

"Something the matter, Anna?" He asks,"You've been twisting and turning all night,"

"It's nothing, Yusef..." I respond.

"Anna...don't lie to me," He says sternly.

"I'm serious!" I say.

I hated when he got like this. He'll never leave something at rest if he feels that it's an issue. I guess that's just another one of his quirks. Whether or not it's a good thing or bad thing depends on the problem. Yusef just stares at me, not buying my lie. I sigh and give up.

"Yusef...if I tell you, do you promise not to freak out?"

"Promise,"

"Even if the issue was because of me?"

"Of course," He says,"You're my friend! I'd never judge you for anything!"

I want to believe him, but...who would forgive a person who did...THAT. No one, that's who. I cleared my mind, took a deep breath, and spoke.

"You know how...timelines in this world work, right?" I begin.

Yusef nods, having heard of all of this from Frisk, Flowey, and I.

"Well, in one of those timelines...I had killed everyone," I said, full of guilt,"The family you see today didn't exist. You guys still didn't have your SOULs. And...I was a murderer...Of all the craziness that has happened..."

Yusef puts his hand on my shoulder and looks at me.

"You shouldn't beat yourself up for something that someone else did," he says.

"But, Yusef, It-"

"Stop it, Anna," He interrupts,"That wasn't you, and you wanna know how I know that? The Anna that I know is a kind, forgiving, loving person. She doesn't kill people just out of some sort of sick satisfaction. I have no idea how far this affects you, but you aren't a murderer,"

I felt like crying right now. I don't know if he was in denial of what happened, or he just cares THAT much about me. I can't understand...

"You shouldn't put Sans through that either," He adds.

Wait...how did Yusef know that?

"I couldn't speak nor move, but I could still hear things," He says,"I know that you feel that you're the only one that really is concerned about this, but it hurts Sans as well. He HAS the right to be worried for you. You ARE special, like he says. He doesn't want to see you beat yourself up because he knows that you're a good person at heart,"

Yusef laughs at his little speech. I just frowned, listening to his words. I tried not to think this way, but the longer I had

"It's strange, isn't it?" He says,"How one's feelings can hurt another,"

He's eloquent when he needs to be. Sometimes, Yusef can be all over the place, but he's a nice guy. Speaking of which, time to ask him something.

"Yusef, how did you wind up here anyway?" I ask.

"I came up here to warn you guys about the Resistance," He says,"I saw them approaching your place and I had to get there before they did,"

He rubs the back of his head, embarrassed.

"It...didn't go so well...heh..." He explains, clearing his throat,"Who were those people anyway?"

"One of them was named 'Carlos Brackett',"

"Brackett!?" He says, horrified.

"Yep, I couldn't believe it either," I respond,"Damien had to be behind the attack on our house. What the heck are we gonna do though?"

"...I don't know...perhaps don't leave out of the house without somebody watching you," Yusef suggests.

"No need to worry about that,"I respond,"Toriel wouldn't allow it. She always has Sans watch me. We talk a lot on our little trips to Jaliceport and back here,"

"Good," Yusef says,"Anyways...shouldn't we be downstairs right now?"

-88-

Everyone sat around and listened to Yusef as he explained what happened with him being injured and wound up here by the Resistance. To my relief, he didn't mention me leaving the house to help Dad and Sans. Concerning Damien, we have to pick our battles very carefully with him now. Resorting to the Resistance to outright attack us was just cruel on his part. We had to warn the others, Damien obviously has something against them. Monsters would lock their doors and windows at night, they'd cut off all the lights and be completely still. It'd be like they weren't home. The thing that favored us was that there was a cellar below our home that we could access through a door under the stairs. It'd be easy to hide from them if they ever came here again.

The thing we'd have to do was get our info and put the Resistance to rest without drawing any attention to ourselves. We enlisted Undyne, Alphys, and Gaster to handle things. With the three of them, getting info on who the Resistance is made of would be a cinch. All we had to do was start with Carlos Brackett. How we were going to go about that...Carlos would eventually HAVE to come back for his license. We'd be waiting for when that happens to step up and turn him into the police. From there, we'd use him to get info on the other members, seek them out, and put an end to the terror that haunted all monster and humankind. For now...we just go about our days and wait for Carlos to show up again. Needless to say, Damien was going to get a HUGE beating from Yusef sooner or later.

"Anna, are you feeling alright?" Asgore asks me,"Frisk has been urging me to ask you all day,"

"I'm fine, just a bit shaken up about this incident," I respond,"It's a bit hard, you know, having to deal with the people at school...I still have my friends, they brighten my life up a lot!"

"They ARE really nice," Asgore agrees,"You made the right decision to stay with them,"

Asgore looks about the room a bit before leaning close to me and whispering.

"Gene has really taken a shine to me," He says,"We are going to see Snowdin once again,"

"Can I come?"

"Only if your father allows,"

"I'll remember that!"

-88-

There was no school for weeks. Instead, the staff at Jaliceport Middle are trying their hardest not to draw any sort of undeserved and unwanted attention. They'd closed their doors a lot early after a Resistance attack happened during the DAY. Apparently, they were aiming for some of the monsters that were enrolled in that school. Luckily, nobody was injured at all. It's a bit of a traumatic experience for the town and I'm sure people were holding their breaths in suspense. Unknowingly, we had people who were also on the search for the Resistance members. Eventually, we'd gotten a mass of people searching for the Resistance. They'd come out in the dark, everyone knew that, but somehow, disappeared without leaving evidence behind. It was unnatural and eerie. Everyone had shivers sent up their spine when an attack would be shown on the TV. Recording videos of attacks became less frequent and I knew why. It's because they were getting harder to find. No reason for them to be easy to spot though, I wouldn't expect anything less of them.

When the entire town wasn't searching for the Resistance, things looked normal. Everyone was mostly alright, though unnerved. We had our casual conversations around the place. Undyne and Alphys had their usual anime marathon. Sans was telling jokes to an annoyed Papyrus. I was sitting with Frisk, learning sign language from them. Flowey was talking to Charles, asking him questions on how he's doing with this entire mess. Gerald was calling Yusef's family, checking in on the boy. We had to send him back a few day earlier because his family was getting worried about him. They were shocked and enraged at what happened. They wanted to phone in Damien's family, but we told them our plan. They reluctantly agreed to it and told us (and I quote) "make him pay or he's going to the emergency room". To be honest, either one sounds great, but I don't want to nearly kill the boy. As much as I dislike him, he deserves mercy too...just much less mercy.

"hey, anna," Sans asks me one day,"you doing alright? yusef wanted me to talk to ya about somethin',"

"What'd he say?"

"i dunno, something about...nightmares?"

I cringe, I didn't think he'd actually say anything about that.

"Y-yeah, those,"

"what's up?"

'Well...remember when you had told me about... _the other timeline_?" I recall.

"yep," Sans says,"what 'bout it?"

"Well, I've been finding it hard to sleep at night," I respond,"The nightmares themselves...they're basically showing me after I had killed everyone. And then, me, standing there, right before fighting you. I know it's just a nightmare, but I could _feel_ the pain as it surged through me. It...It hurt,"

Sans closes his eyes, his same-as-ever grin still plastered onto his face. Nothing seemed to have changed about him. He looks towards me for a second, studying me. I could feel his gaze pierce my soul and I started to wonder if, from that look, he could hear my thoughts.

"you're innocent, right?" he asks.

"Y-yeah," I confirm.

"then you shouldn't be worrying your head over that,"

"B-but..."

"it's done, over, finished," Sans insists,"and i know for a fact that you're too nice to do something like that in the first place. you're YOU, anna. that's why you shouldn't worry,"

That's...quite vague, but I can see what he means. The fact that I'm myself must give him a bit of hope that I won't RESET the timeline over again. Remembering the nightmare from before, I don't want him to have to go through that pain I experienced any more. I pull him into a hug and speak.

"I promise, there won't be any more RESETs,"

He stays quiet for a bit and I can feel this guy breathe a sigh of relief. His shoulders dropped a slight bit, probably from stress he had built up over the many RESETs of the timeline.

"...you have no idea how much those words mean to me," he says.

-88-

"hey, anna, you wanna go down to grillby's?"

"That's right, I'd forgotten he made a place up here!"

Grillby had made a new bar above ground when he had gotten the chance to. It's usually warm inside and everyone goes there, not just monsters. You'll see people hanging around for casual conversation or to drink their problems away. Some even flirt with Grillby...as odd as that sounds. I'd assume it'd be a bit hard. I can't tell where in the world his eyes are. What if they aren't even on his face...WHAT IF!? As we walk down the path towards Jaliceport, I decide this would be the perfect moment for something.

"Sans,"

"yeah, anna?"

"why do people flirt with Grillby?"

" **because he's hot** , duh!"

"I KNEW YOU WERE GONNA DO THAT!"

"you set me up for that pun, and I took the chance,"

"It was amazing,"

"thanks,"

"Hey Sans, knock knock,"

"who's there?"

"Woo,"

"woo who?"

" **Why cheer for such a bad joke?** "

Sans laughs as we finally reach Grillby's. Heading inside, the place looks like an exact replica of the one in the UNDERGROUND. The only difference is that I saw burly men sitting in seats along with the usual monsters. I see the dogs from Snowdin huddled around a table. Dogamy waves in my direction and the rest do the same. I steer clear of Greater Dog and watch as Lesser Dog fails to beat itself in another game of poker...I still have no idea how it does that. Grillby sees Sans and I and his flame grows a bit bigger in surprise. It shrinks a while after and we grab a seat. The food we got was the usual. I was a bit surprised they still had it. This was a completely new Grillby's so I was assuming completely new things. Truth be told, there were LOTS of new options. There wasn't just coffee and burgers anymore.

Of course, Sans and I were too lazy to READ any of the options so we just wound up getting the same like we always do. Less work, more fun. That is our motto! It was a great time seeing all the new people down at the bar. The bar itself was actually on the west side of Jaliceport. That made it easier to get to since it was on the outer side of the town. It eventually started getting late and we began to head out of the bar and back home before night hit. We didn't get far until we heard people following us. Sans nodded up to the house and we picked up the pace, running away from whoever was pursuing. I was wondering for a small bit if it was the Resistance or not. I didn't have to wonder for long before gunshots answered my question. Why are they doing this AGAIN!?

We hit the forest and scatter for the house. Losing them in the trees, we can hear them angrily grunting as they trip over logs that fell down here. We keep to the shade of the trees like normal, staying out of sight. It was really one of the only defenses we actually HAD. Besides, well, every monster in our house. Hitting the door to our home, Sans locks it, locks the windows, and closes the curtains. Their voices sounded through the walls and we could hear them arguing.

"CRAP! They got away!"

"That quick? How do you lose them THAT quick ya moron!?"

"Listen, I tried but- OW!"

"We're not here to play tag," a voice says,"We're here to get my license and go!"

"Right, sorry,"

The door started to shake. Sans thinks for a moment before a lightbulb goes off in his head. He tells everyone to scramble into the cellar. Sans unlocks the door slowly before grabbing my arm and teleporting me behind a wall. Two men walk inside. One of them was Carlos Brackett and a smaller man. The small one looked nervous and his large gun shook while he was aiming with it. Something was obviously unnerving him. Probably Carlos' stern and rough voice. As soon as Carlos passes buy, Sans grabs him and pins him down with bones. The smaller man just drops his gun and flees from the house, screaming at the top of his lungs. He sounded like a grown woman. As Sans signals everyone that it's okay, the man starts struggling more. Everyone comes out from the cellar and gets a short look at the man. Undyne and Alphys sneer. Frisk hides behind Toriel and Asgore. Flowey and Charles frown with an angry look. For Dad...more Danish yelling.

Carlos Brackett...he was finally in our hands. There was nothing to stop us from putting an end to the Resistance now. All we had to do was get the police down here.

Things might finally be going our way now.

* * *

 **That's all for now! I finished this really late at night. I'm supposed to be sleeping in Adventure Land. It's so dark in this room! Anyways, I hope to DEAR LORD this chapter was good enough for you guys. I want this story to be exciting for all of you who click on it. Anyways, be sure to review, favorite, or follow if you enjoyed this chapter. Until then!**


	4. Knowing You

**Welcome to the next chapter of this story. I'm using this chapter to expand on the character of Carlos. That review from earlier made me realize that the antagonists need character development just as much as the protagonists do. It's amazing what things you miss if you don't dive deep enough into the topic. I thank that reviewer for their criticism of these past few chapters and I hope to see them again in the future. Anyways...Until then!**

* * *

It was a while since we'd gotten Carlos. Undyne took him into a room and was having a talk with him about exactly what the Resistance is. She, unfortunately, got nothing out of them at all. We were a bit stuck now...we didn't want to hurt the guy, but we needed to know about the group he's in. What to do in a situation like this...what to do...

"Hey! Anna!" Undyne calls,"The dude wants to talk to ya about something,"

I get up from the couch where everyone else was and head towards Undyne. She leads me back into a room where the man was and he's tied up in rope instead of bones now. Undyne closes the door to the room with us inside. I don't know exactly WHY this man wants me back here, so I'd better ask why.

"Mr. Brackett," I begin,"Something the matter?"

"Well nothing besides the fact that these ropes are starting to hurt," He says,"How strong is that fish-lady anyway?"

"Trust me, you don't want to know,"

"Duly noted,"

"So...again, something wrong?"

"Well...you guys wanna know about the Resistance right?" Carlos says,"You also want to know why I MYSELF would be in a group like that,"

"But why talk to me?"

"You...seem the most open minded out of all of them. I wanted a good chance at explaining myself," He says,"Anyway, the group wasn't formed purely out of hatred,"

"It sure came across that way," I respond,"Attacking without warning..."

The man sighs and studies me for a second. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He twists a bit, trying to make the pain of the ropes lessen, and speaks.

"The Resistance...is a group of those who PROTECT humankind, understand?" He says,"Why else would it be called the Resistance?"

I nod in understanding. The name basically tells what they do.

"The reason we were created was because of people that feared monsters would attack us and steal our SOULs," He says,"We're unable to compete with the amount of magic that a monster has unless we use strong weapons. Humans can't manage magic like they used to,"

He's right. I read on the Ancient Glyphs in the UNDERGROUND that seven magicians sealed the monsters there using a spell. That means that humans were able to use magic. I wonder why they can't anymore...

"So...because we'd most likely be killed from a monster's spells alone, we resolved to attacking them in a group," Carlos continues,"Unfortunately, plans had changed, and we wanted those defending them out of the way as well,"

"But why resort to killing?"

"There are some people around today that retain magic that was around years ago. People fear them because they don't understand what the magic DOES anymore," He explains,"It's an act purely out of fear and assumptions,"

"And you carry them out?"

"No, I'm not the leader. Or maybe you mean that I'm with them? Yeah, I am," He says,"I have my own reasons though,"

"Why?"

"I don't like to talk about it,"

I walk up to Carlos, not taking "no" for an answer. I look him in the eye and ask again.

"C'mon. Why are you with THEM?"

He glares at me for a bit before giving up, knowing that I'm not going to leave him alone about this subject. He takes a deep breath, breathes out and speaks.

"...My brother was killed by them," Carlos reveals,"It was before Damien was born, during the war. I'm Damien's father,"

My jaw drops a slight bit. He just frowns at my reaction and closes his eyes again. Family death was hard to deal with, knowing that the person you loved so much wasn't going to come back...and it was his BROTHER. That only rubs salt into the wounds, because the blood between siblings is close. Closer than anything, really. Time for the speech...I got nothin'...C'mon, Anna, improvise!

"Carlos, I understand that losing a family member is hard to live down, and that getting revenge on those that hurt that person close to you SEEMS like the right thing to do..." I start,"But in a fight, BOTH sides are to blame,"

"You sound like him, Jay Brackett, my brother,"Carlos says,"He loved studying the guys. I just told him that one day, his research was going to control him. He continued on though, learning and learning,"

"About fearing the monsters...what's all that about? They're pretty friendly," I say.

"Kid, if there's one thing I've learned, it's that appearances are deceiving," he explains.

Boy is this man right. I begin to have horrid images of Flowey attacking me with his 'friendliness pellets'.

"We don't have magic anymore, like I said. You ever heard of a monster SOUL and a human SOUL being joined in strength? It's terrifying," Carlos says,"The Resistance works to prevent that,"

"You ever thought about all the lives that would be hurt due to actions like this?" I detest.

"I try not to think about it too hard. What would everyone else say...?" He worries.

"What about the leader of your group?" I ask.

"His name? Does the name...Ricky Skarp ring a bell?"

"Wait, SKARP!?"

"Got your attention, huh?" Carlos says,"Ricky is the great grandson of our town's founder. He told us a few things about exactly WHY we should form this group,"

"And that was...?"

"I'm going to ask you a question. I want you to be completely honest with your answer," He says.

"...Do you know what it feels like to be near those who could kill you instantly? To add onto that, think about what would happen if they grabbed a hold of your SOUL,"

"Of course I know that! I'm literally around them EVERY DAY. It's nothing new,"

"Because they have magic and we don't, think about how EASY it would be for a group to come along and murder us all, become practical GODS, and do whatever they feel like,"

"That's no excuse for what's been happening lately," I protest,"It's murder, whether or not it's for a good cause,"

He just stays silent and nods. Carlos' morality compass was a bit twisted, but he was an alright person. ...I have an idea.

"Wait here for a second," I say to him.

He doesn't argue, and watches me leave the room. I walk back up to the living room and call out.

"ASGORE! TORIEL!"

The two of them walk up to me, sporting a mildly confused look. Everyone stares at the three of us before going back to the conversation they were just in. I lead Toriel and Asgore back to the room I was in. Inside, Carlos just stares at the two of them. He looks to me for a second, unsure about what was going on. I just gave him a reassuring smile.

"So...you two are probably wondering why I asked you to come back here..." I say.

"Yep,"

"Yes,"

"Well, I want you two to explain what happened in the UNDERGROUND. The part with Asriel, Chara, everything!"

They give me an unsure look. Like I did with Carlos, another reassuring smile.

-88-

"We'd lost two people that we loved dearly," Asgore says,"It was...a troubling time,"

"Asgore was angry enough to declare war. He said it would start once we escaped from the UNDERGROUND. That we would rule the above ground in peace," Toriel explains.

"But...I felt a sort of guilt after each human I had come across," Asgore adds,"It wasn't until I met Anna, that I had finally asked myself: 'Do I really want to do this?' In truth, no, not at all. I was just blinded by anger and hatred, believing that we'd had everything taken from us by the humans once again..."

"But the humans that he already had the SOULs of, they were just innocent children looking to escape from below the surface. They had no chance to speak out against what was going wrong. It is why Asgore contains self-hatred. He can not look at those six children the same way anymore," Toriel continues.

Carlos sat in silence. He listened to every word the two had said, quite intently, actually. He was a bit unfocused, but when he found out that Chara and Asriel had died down there, that grabbed his attention. He still has that same frown and lowered eyebrows on his face, but it's a less angered and more sympathetic look now. This is why I brought the two in here. Both Asgore and Carlos had to deal with losing a family member that was dear to them. Both of them acted out of anger towards the other side. Asgore and Toriel had left the room shortly after, Carlos was looking down at the floor now. I stare at him for a moment, before slowly undoing the ropes. He gets up and turns to me, a slightly bewildered look on his face.

"Why would you-"

"I was taught that everyone deserves mercy," I say.

"Why do I?" he asks,"After what I did...or, almost did, anyway,"

"I may not be able to forgive you or the Resistance for what happened to Gerson, but I can help you," I say,"Follow me,"

-88-

I brought Carlos and Asgore out in the front of our house. It took lots of persuasive action for this to happen. Dad was extremely against all of this, but I figured that it would be okay. I wanted to demonstrate how I handled FIGHTs when I was alone. I had Frisk come out and stand off to the side. They would sign things to Carlos to help him out. Asgore starts off the FIGHT. Carlos' SOUL reveals itself, a brown color. Carlos backs away a bit and looks towards me for help. I just stand next to him and smile like last time. Asgore sends a fire attack towards us and I dodge it like always. Carlos is a bit more crazy with his movements. He winds up taking damage. This was going to be a while. I had no issue taking damage because of what happened with me and Other Me back in the UNDERGROUND. My LOVE got an increase, but I never laid a finger on a monster unless it was the only way to get through the situation. We had to rerun the fight a few times. Carlos would get his burns healed and Asgore would explain how dodging works.

"You can not be everywhere," Asgore says,"The bullets are not strong, but there are many,"

"So...just edge away from them, and slip between open spots?" Carlos asks.

Asgore nods whenever Carlos would successfully dodge an attack from him. Eventually, Carlos was almost as good at dodging as I was. Frisk was better than BOTH of us, however. I watched the final test between them play out like a record. It went amazingly!

* * *

 **Asgore is watching, expectantly.**

 **Carlos LV 1 HP: 20/20**

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

* * *

 **Check * Talk Ask Anna for tips**

* * *

"So, how'd you wind up making the decision to end all of this?" Carlos asks.

"It was mostly from Anna's actions throughout our battle," Asgore explains,"It was only until i actually ENCOURAGED her that she fought back. Even then, she did everything she could to not damage me badly,"

"Does she always act this way?" Carlos asks again,"In FIGHTs, I mean,"

"Yes, she has not changed a bit!" Asgore says,"Toriel is quite proud,"

Asgore's eyes flash blue then orange. Carlos learned what both of those colors meant from me. He would commonly ask for help throughout the battle on what to do during times like this. Eventually, Carlos had gotten to the last volley of Asgore's attacks. He was hurt, but alright. It was finally the end.

* * *

 **Asgore is sparing you.**

 **Carlos LV 1 HP: 12/20**

 **[FIGHT] [ACT] [ITEM] *[MERCY]**

* * *

 *** Spare Flee**

* * *

I run up to Carlos and begin talking to him about the battle he had. During the fight, I explained what LV stood for and how different enemies gave different ACT options. It would take different methods to SPARE each enemy because they had different actions for every person that existed. Carlos learned how FIGHTs work pretty easily. It wasn't long before HE asked ME a question.

"How high is your **LOVE**?"

I just stared at him in silence. He stares for a bit and coughs, embarrassed that he might have stepped over a personal boundary. There was nothing wrong in actuality, I just didn't want to speak about it. I try to forget that time...the time I met Other Me.

"It's 8," I respond, hesitantly,"My LOVE is 8 and my HP is 48,"

"You have a LOVE of 8..." He says.

"Yeah I- OH WAIT NO IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!" I hurriedly say,"If I told you, it'd be confusing. You can ask Sans about it,"

"I'll remember that,"

Asgore walks up to Carlos.

"You did well," Asgore says.

"Thanks...uh..."

Carlos leans to me.

"What is his name again?" He whispers.

"Asgore," I whisper back.

"Thanks, Asgore!"

As Asgore heads back inside, Carlos and I follow him. We walk around the house a bit and stumble across Sans. He's sitting with Charles, talking about how school is going. Ever since Charles went off to Jaliceport Middle, Sans has been wanting to know how it's going with Toriel being the principal AND the teacher of his class. Toriel just...REALLY wants to teach. Sans turns and sees Carlos walking towards him. A moment of silence is passed between them before Sans speaks first.

"wha'dya want,"

Sans had this sort of blank look on his face. He didn't seem angry, but he wasn't his usual self.

"I wanted to ask you how Anna got LOVE," Carlos asks.

Sans flinches at hearing that. With a shocked expression, he looks towards me and back at Carlos. He gives Carlos a look that reads "you sure?". Carlos stands there, insisting that Sans tells him what's going on with me.

"well, I try not to remember it, because it's a bit...tiring to think about," Sans says.

"Tiring?" Carlos asks.

"yeah, i just feel like not doing anything when i recall it," Sans says,"a bit cuz i'll get sidetracked, thinking about it, but mostly because i don't want to imagine anna that way,"

"In what way?"

"a murderer,"

"I can see why, she's too nice,"

What's that supposed to mean? And why am I complaining?

"well, she's anna,"Sans says,"if she wasn't nice, she wouldn't BE anna. that's why i don't think of that other version of anna to be the one you see today. and that's why i hate to see her get upset over something like that. she blames herself for something that wasn't her fault,"

"Other version?"

"oh, right, i didn't explain that yet,"Sans realizes,"you know what timelines are, right?"

Carlos nods and I just sit there, waiting for the shocking part to hit.

"anna has a...special ability to manipulate the timeline at will. in an instant, we could all be underground again. but...apparently, i don't have to worry about that anymore," Sans grins, but it quickly fades,"in one of those timelines...anna not only took the life of my brother, but everyone,"

Carlos looks back at me and raises an eyebrow. I just nod and confirm that what he's saying is completely true.

"now, before there was anna, we had frisk. they're the kid in the chair with tori. they would constantly RESET after saving or destroying the world. their constant resets caused anna's other self to appear in the timeline she was in. the two battled and anna winded up victorious. that's why she has that LOVE level of 8," Sans finished.

"Aren't you mad at the kid for changing the world like that?" Carlos asks.

"believe me, i have my issues with the kid resetting all the time,"Sans admits,"but...knowing that anna was made out of this entire mess, i guess it wasn't all bad,"

Sans pulls me close and ruffles my hair. I laugh and give him a big smile. He chuckles to himself.

"Wait, you said Anna was 'made out of this entire mess'," Carlos says,"Does that mean she wasn't supposed to exist?"

"yep, but we love her," Sans confirms.

Carlos looks towards me and winces. I just try and put on my best smile. Yes, it's true I was never meant to exist. For a while, that thought had haunted me. It meant that all those memories I had loved so much were never even supposed to happen. Knowing that your entire existence is an accident is worse than anything you could ever know about yourself. But with friends and family to fall back on, what am I afraid of?

"Sorry about, eh, nearly...shooting you down back there," Carlos says,"If I knew that-"

"It's fine,"I say,"Everyone in this room tried to kill me once anyway,"

"Wait, what?"

"Papyrus was in Snowdin, we battled. Toriel was in the RUINS...Asgore...in his castle...Undyne...stalking me. And Al- wait, nope she wasn't an iss- wait...waaaait," I say,"If you count Mettaton as a part of Alphys' problems then I guess Alphys DID try and kill me,"

"And you're content hanging around these guys everday?" Carlos asks.

"Once you get to know them, they're not a bad group to be with," I answer.

"...I'd better get going. It's late," he says.

I look at him for a bit and raise an eyebrow. This guy wasn't going to go cause MORE trouble was he?

"It's not for THAT. I just need to get back to my kid," he says,"Unless you're going to turn me in to the police?"

"You're not running out the door and away from here?" I ask.

Carlos points to Sans and then it clicked. That magic Sans used earlier would definitely prevent him from easily leaving the place. Though, I hope he'll be more careful with it this time, last time looked painful.

"Besides, I can't be with the Resistance anymore," Carlos says,"I can't when I know that there are monsters and families like this...I don't want to carry the burden of hurting an entire family. I thought that my goal was simple. 'Get back at those who hurt my brother' is what I told myself. But...my decision was out of anger. Seeing you in this big family of monsters AND humans...it...drives me to do something different. Change who I used to be, anyway,"

I get up off the couch and give Carlos his license back. Sans gives me a unsure look, but i assured him that the situation was handled and okay.

"Don't worry, Carlos," I say,"We haven't shown it to the police yet,"

He just looks at me for a bit, taking in my appearance. He scans the entire living room and kitchen before heading towards the front door. Heading out the door, he turns back to me and speaks.

"I'll see what I can do to help you,"

"What are you gonna do?" I ask.

"My boy tells me things often about you," he says,"Negative stuff. I can't do much, but if I can redeem myself then it's worth it. Also...if you meet any of the other members...try to change their minds. You seem like the right person for the job,"

Carlos disappears off on the path towards Jaliceport. I'm left standing at the door with a slight smile on my face. We had one less person to worry about. It turns out that he had the same problem as Asgore. That made it easy to explain things from a different perspective. Carlos may not be one of the most reasonable people when it comes to big choices on what to do with life, and he can get a bit hasty to judge things at times, but he's okay. Redeeming himself...I don't know exactly how he's going to manage that, besides settling things between Damien and I.

One more person to count on...one more person to help end this mess.

* * *

 **Did you like the little FIGHT thing I put in? I got of inspiration from another Undertale fanfiction I had read. It is called "Saving SOULs" and it was written by xxApocalypsexx. It was interesting to see how he went and made the FIGHTs in the story look. I'm thinking of adding this into my story because it's a brilliant idea. Be sure to check out that Fanfiction that he went and made, you won't be disappointed! Anyways, if you enjoyed this chapter, be sure to review, favorite, or follow! Until then!**


	5. Making Amends

**Guys, I had so much fun with this chapter. The humor from RESET and SAVE is making a return. Finally, I don't have to worry about the serious tone of the beginning any longer. Don't get me wrong, this story is going to keep its mildly dark tone, but there will be lots of light-hearted moments...like parts in this chapter for example. I hope it gets you to laugh like it did me while I was writing it. Until then!**

* * *

Here I was, sitting in a room with Damien Bracket at his house...the house of the person I absolutely dreaded at school. Sans and Carlos had gathered my friends as well, and we were all sitting in a circle. Alice refused to speak, Gene was nervously shuffling his feet, Belle turned up her nose, Percival gave a stoic look, Owen looked like he was glaring, and Yusef and I stared at him, silently. Damien was a lot quieter than we'd all thought. He seemed cut off from the rest of us, secluded and alone. The guy looked a lot more vulnerable here than he was at school. Needless to say, we were quite surprised. Damien had his head angled at the floor, his hair covered his face.

"Why are you guys here?" He asks, face still covered,"I thought you hated me,"

"We do not hate you," Percival says,"We just do not agree with your constant harassment. It is degrading,"

"Still, why come HERE?" He asks, finally looking at us,"Wouldn't you guys rather go somewhere else?"

"Totally,"Belle says,"I didn't ask to be here,"

Damien's frown gets a bit bigger.

"Belle..."Alice says,"That was rude of you..."

"I don't see YOU being cheery," Belle retorts.

"Stop arguing, you two," Yusef cuts in.

"Damien, your dad brought us here," I explain,"He wants us to be on better terms, since we...haven't been the nicest people,"

Damien gets up and is about to head towards the door, I pull him back into a seat though and he just glares daggers at me. He folds his arms and looks at me with a darkened face and a scowl.

"I want to know exactly WHY you're messing around with us," I say,"It's not right to just pick on people and not have a reason for it...Is it because...your Uncle Jay isn't around anymore?"

When I mention the name of his uncle the dark look he had disappears and makes way for a saddened one. I hit the nail right on the head, the death of Jay Brackett was affecting him too. It's amazing, really, how one death can start an entire chain reaction. It makes me wonder what exactly happened with the other Resistance members that made them form it. It can't just be PURELY out of fear, right? Or maybe I'm wrong.

"Seven years old," Damien says,"It was June 23rd. I had asked Dad if we could have the entire family to get together and have fun. So...everybody had done just that,"

'It was a great time!'

'I had gotten to see so many people that I didn't even know were a part of my family.'

'There were familiar faces and people I'd never met before.'

'I got to bond with them like families should.'

'Then...Aunt Mabel asks "Where's Jay?'

'Nobody had answered her, there was a silence, however.'

'When I went to ask Dad what happened to Uncle Jay, he said "Your Uncle isn't coming back to Jaliceport for a while".'

'He gave me a sort of stressed out look. I didn't really get it at first.'

'It took a bit, but...I'd eventually understood what he meant.'

'He was dead...so that's why he wasn't coming back.'

'Hearing that it was the monsters' faults...I wanted to prove that I'm not weak so they couldn't kill me.'

'That's why I bullied you guys...because I'm afraid of being stepped on for being weak.'

'When I bullied, I was confident nobody would try and mess with me. I was safe.'

'But seeing you guys here, even after all that, makes me question if what I did was okay.'

'Obviously, from what happened. It wasn't.'

'I'm sorry.'

"I understand if you guys can't forgive me. You're already mad enough as it is," Damien finishes,"So...how about making this easy for both of us. I'll leave you guys alone, and we'll act like this talk never happened,"

Everyone had finally understood why all that undeserved harassment was for. He was just another kid who couldn't fathom the idea of death. If only he knew...Percival looks at Damien with the same stiff expression he always has. He adjusts his glasses for a bit, clears his throat and speaks.

"While I would enjoy doing that, I now feel obliged to make amends," Percival says.

"Y-yeah! We're all friends here! Let's ACT like it!" Gene adds.

Yusef stares at Damien for a bit. He seems to be thinking very heavily on something. Giving me a look that his mind was finally clear, he speaks.

"I don't...often talk about this; it's something I tend to try and forget about," Yusef says,"But...all seven of us here, besides Anna, have died once before,"

"W-what!?"

"It all happened when we were in the UNDERGROUND," Yusef explains.

"King Asgore...he killed us..." Alice says quietly.

"It was not the most...honorable way to die," Percival adds.

Damien looks between all of us a few times. His eyes were slightly wider than before, showing his apparent shock and sympathy. I was wondering where Yusef was going with this before he started talking again.

"We've been to death and back. The six kids here, me included. Anna NEARLY died because of Mettaton," Owen explains,"What I mean to explain here, is that you shouldn't waste your time proving yourself stronger than everyone. Do what you enjoy in life. Live it to the fullest. Get to know people instead of shoving them away,"

"What we've learned from our experience in the UNDERGROUND, our deaths...is that...you really DO appreciate the things you have MORE when you've lost them for a while," Belle says,"My parents wouldn't leave me alone for a second after I showed up home again, alive as ever. You can't go through your life pushing people around because they'll feel that you're weak if you didn't. It only makes them hate you,"

"So...how did you guys...y'know...deal with it all?" Damien asks.

"You're looking at 'how' right now!" Gene says,"Friends make the world brighter! Like the morning sun!"

"It's as bright as you make it out to be, Gene," Percival says,"But, yes, it is indeed enjoyable to have friends you can rely on,"

Damien sits there, thinking deeply. He isn't glaring at any of us anymore. I didn't have to say a single thing this entire talk. Mostly because I hadn't died. And when I did drop to 0HP, my SOUL had reformed against Asriel. I never really experienced death, only near-death. It was a terrifying experience though...

"We're willing to forgive you,"I say,"But you have to meet us halfway. You have to tell everyone the truth. I know for a FACT you don't want this to drag on any longer,"

Carlos opens the door to the room and peeks inside. Alice walks up to him and whispers something in his ear. Carlos nods, and motions for us to come outside of the house. We were all heading back to my house, Damien following close behind. Damien had grabbed a coat since it was colder near our house than anywhere else in Jaliceport.

-88-

As we open the door, we see Undyne and Alphys watching anime on the TV. Must be a new series of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie. I never really got into that. Sans was on the computer playing a game. Looking closer, I could see it was a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena. MOBA for short. He was talking to somebody through a headset. I could hear the other's voice through the speakers on the computer.

"Why choose Okuum? He's horrible!" The voice says,"No efficient lane clear and no escape!"

"the guy looked cool, unlike raptor," Sans replies,"i play how i feel like. but i guess we can't all be good players,"

"MY team is WINNING you know,"

"fite me, linda,"

A second later I see Sans getting into a 1v1 and coming out triumphant. An angry voice sounds through the speaker as I see an announcer calling out "An enemy has fallen!"

"HOW DID YOU EVEN WIN THAT!?" the voice yells,"I HAD HIGHER HEALTH AND WAS 2 LEVELS ABOVE YOU!"

"get dunked on,"

I laugh and Percival goes over to Sans while he was playing the game. Asgore looks over from the couch in the living room and lights up whenever he sees that Gene is there. Gene notices Asgore and runs over to him, quickly being grabbed by large arms. They hug each other and laugh happily. Papyrus was in the kitchen, practicing his cooking, when he turns around, hearing the door open.

"THE HUMAN HAS RETURNED!" Papyrus calls out.

Damien looks about the room for a bit and starts backing away. I grab his arm and pull him towards the TV where Undyne and Alphys were. In the background, I could hear another voice in Sans' game.

"Which do you prefer? Star Wars or Star Trek?"

"star trek,"

"Why though?"

"because star wars sucks,"

"Screw you, Sans!"

"fite me, raymond,"

Another battle happens and a voice shouts out "An enemy's spark has been extinguished!". Another upset voice happens.

"HOW THOUGH!?"

"plot armor. shony writes it in this story so i can't lose," Sans explains,"really handy, ya know?"

Ignoring the destruction of the fourth wall, I call for Undyne.

"Hey, Undyne?" I ask,"Can you come here for a second?"

"Sure, Anna, I-"

Undyne stops talking when she sees Damien standing there. A sudden angry look on her face appears as she clenches her fist tightly.

"Do you have ANY idea how much pain you put her through!?" Undyne yells.

Damien winces and backs away slightly.

"Calm down, Undyne, I wanted you to tell him how we became friends,"

-88-

"I was the head of the Royal Guard," Undyne says,"Command over everyone else! Strong, focused, and proud,"

Damien sat through her story, listening to every detail she went and dropped.

"And yet, nobody really liked me," She admits,"Sure, the kids admired me, but now...they look towards other people. In truth, I'm not really the kind of person you want to look up to in life. Anna or Toriel fits that detail a lot more than me,"

"So...what happened with Anna?"

"Well, regardless of how I pushed her around, she never fought back,"Undyne explains,"She endured the pain I inflicted, still flashed a smile, and treated me with kindness. I've done literally nothing to deserve her being nice to me, but she still does so. Now, we're the closest we could ever be!"

Undyne pulls me close and noogies my head. I laugh and struggle, trying to pull away from her. Damien watches both of us and smiles a tiny bit. I didn't notice, but BOY did he look happy. He stops the grin when we gaze back at him though. He isn't frowning, it's just a sort of blank look.

"Follow us out back," I say.

I brought Damien outside like I did with Carlos. We get the battle going. Damien's SOUL was a brown coloring, like his father. I pull out my worn dagger and Damien freezes at the sight of it. I assure him that it's alright and since I was helping him defend himself, I wouldn't hit him too hard. Starting off the battle, I manage to use my LOVE to turn Damien's SOUL a green coloring. He couldn't move at all, he had to defend himself using a magic shield that was projected from his SOUL.

* * *

 **Anna is cheering you on.**

 **Damien LV 1 HP:20/20**

 **[FIGHT] [ACT] [ITEM] *[MERCY]**

* * *

 ***Spare Flee**

* * *

I turn my single dagger into multiple and shoot them at him. He uses the shield he got to defend against the attacks. It was slow at first, but I picked up the pace. He got the timing down, taking only minor damage from the shots I had fired. I was pretty surprised he had adapted to the prospect of not moving at all. It took a while, but Damien survived my final pattern. The training session was over.

* * *

 **Anna is sparing you**

 **Damien LV1 HP:15/20**

 **[FIGHT] [ACT] [ITEM] *[MERCY]**

* * *

 ***Spare Flee**

* * *

I walk over to Damien and congratulate him on his performance. Undyne just noogies his head like she does everyone else. He gives us both a grin and isn't afraid of showing it this time. We walk back inside and I offer Damien some of Asgore's beloved Golden Flower Tea. He takes a sip of it while Flowey suddenly shows up in one of the dirt spots around the house. As soon as he sees Flowey he chokes and coughs on the tea, eyes widened.

"WHAT IS THAT!?"

"Howdy!" Flowey says,"Anna, who's your friend?"

"His name is Damien, Flowey," I say,"You know, the kid from school?"

"Oh...I know HIM," he says.

Flowey ducks back into the ground and pokes out, now on a ledge on the wall, a spot that held dirt. How Flowey gets around is travelling along the dirt we put into the walls. He can pop up wherever the dirt pokes out of the boards in the walls and floor. The spots are usually lined with wood. He was actually really close to where we are. Flowey usually heads in that spot whenever we're all in the kitchen, eating. Sometimes, for fun, Undyne would take the water sprayer from the sink and use it on Flowey. Of course, this is quickly stopped by Frisk and Toriel, who are usually always nearby.

"What are YOU doing here?" Flowey asks Damien.

Damien just looks towards me, nervously. Flowey begins to get impatient and his face turns into a skull-like shape.

"Are you going to mess with Anna again," He asks,"We wouldn't want a PROBLEM, would we?"

"That's enough, Weed!"

A blast of water hits Flowey in the face. Undyne is at it again with the sprayer. She's unnaturally precise with the sprayer. I'd hate to be Flowey right now. That actually looks pretty suffocating. When is this guy going to-

"WAIT, UNDYNE, I'M SORRY!" Flowey says hurriedly,"STOP IT! FRISK! TORIEL!"

Oh there we go. Frisk and Toriel show up shortly after, being called by Flowey's voice. Toriel calls out Undyne's voice in a sort of angered manner. Undyne turns around and sees Toriel, she freezes. Undyne looks at the sprayer in her hand, then at Toriel, then at the door, then back at Toriel. Undyne instantly drops the sprayer and heads out the door, sprinting.

"HEY! GET BACK HERE!" Toriel calls, heading after her.

"RUN FOR THE HILLS!" Undyne yells.

Frisk just laughs and runs after the two of them, waving to me as they head out the door. Alphys notices the commotion and was going to follow before a voice sounds out from the television.

"THIS IS THE BEST PART!" Alphys yells,"S-she'll be fine..."

"You say you live with these guys?" Damien asks me.

My friends are all out hanging with the monsters. Percival is helping Sans face off against Linda in his game. Gene is listening to more of Asgore's stories. Belle is once again helping Papyrus improve by explaining how seasoning works to him on the couch. Alice WAS listening to Toriel with Frisk, but now they're gone. So Alice comes over and listens to Damien and I speak to each other. Owen was talking to Yusef about how things were going with his family.

"Yep, and I love all of them," I reply,"It gets a bit odd at times, but that's what happens with family,"

"Don't you ever get afraid that what happened in the Underground might happen again?" Damien asks.

"Yeah, but if I spent my whole life worrying about the future, I'd forget what was happening in the present," I explain.

"Shae Long? Your KID chooses better people than you!" A voice says.

"at least MY kid can play," Sans retorts.

He's probably talking about me, Frisk doesn't play that game at all. They sort of just sit and watch.

"MY kid won the championship!"

"because he cheated. didn't you see the announcers?"

"THEY'RE FAULTY!"

"just like your gluten-free brownies, linda,"

"What in the world are they doing?" Damien asks.

"No idea," I reply,"But I'm enjoying this,"

"Ditto," Damien agrees.

"What do my brownies have to do with this?"

"nobody is going to eat it. why do you bring it all the time!?"

"At least it's better than that warm-up crap you take out of the fridge everyday,"

"at least **_I_** know what's in whatever i warm up. i'm not giving MY kid weed brownies," Sans says,"and stop bringing those godforsaken organic gluten lemon squares,"

"Tell me that when your kid gets up and moving around some more like a HEALTHY child,"

"MY kid saved an entire race! what did YOUR kid do besides sit at home and shove his face full of cake and get high on video games!?"

"Thomas is a respectful child! And he's way better than the hunk of trash you carry around!"

"FITE ME, LINDA!"

An announcer calls out "Killing spree! You're unstoppable!". The voice, presumably Linda, screams in rage.

"How did Sans and Linda meet?"

"It all started with the Parent-Teacher Association..." I begin,"...and that's all I can remember,"

"You know, I think I'll come back here someday. It's fun to listen to everybody's back stories," Damien says, heading towards the door with his smiling father,"Again, I'm sorry for all the bullying. I have to thank you for helping me realize that I'll only distance myself if I keep on with it...See you at school sometime soon?"

"Sure, Damien," I say, smiling warmly.

As Damien and Carlos walk out of the door and towards their house, they move about with a sort of spring in there step. My friends and I no longer have to worry about the trouble at school anymore. With Damien and Carlos on our side, we're sure to have a better chance making it through the year. Hopefully, everyone else will mellow out. I'm sure they'll come around though.

A friend that I once called my enemy. What do you know, people really DO change.

* * *

 **And that's a wrap for today! I was actually planning on uploading this YESTERDAY, but I got sidetracked of course. Lately, I've been sitting around the house like a lazy log. When I have nothing to do, I'll sit in my pajamas all day. NOW, I have MORE pajamas to lay around the house in. My parents let me open ONE present for today. It was a set of red pajamas. Instead of being excited though, my face lit up in delight. THEY'RE SO WARM! Hopefully, my family also got me that scarf I had wanted so badly. Happiness is abound and coming your way! Happy Holidays!**


	6. Rainy Days

**A certain somebody is going to be mad at what happens in this chapter...they shall not be named. This chapter is going to have a small bit of backstory for the Resistance. I hope this puts them in a better light than what they're currently in. After all, the "antagonists" need love too!...Not THAT love...creeps. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Until then!**

* * *

Sans took me to Grillby's early in the morning. It was raining and about 8 AM. We convinced Dad to come with us so he could get a clear look of it. Dad was a bit cautious inside Grillby's, he's never been around so many monsters before. He DID go inside though, mostly because there were other humans who'd already gotten to know some of the monsters, and so they weren't bothered by them. Dad looks about the room a bit nervously as I order him some coffee. Sans is making sure Dad doesn't dart out the front door and rush home. Grillby seems amused by my father's behavior. I don't blame him, it's a bit funny.

"...Is...he always like this?" Grillby asks quietly.

"No," I reply,"He's actually very comfortable with everyone back home. It's just that he isn't used to being around all these different monsters in one area. He's a bit paranoid,"

"never knew so many monsters could **rattle his bones** ," Sans jokes.

I chuckle a tiny bit and Sans' grin gets a bit wider. I give Dad his coffee as he scans the room some more. There were monsters and humans of all types in this place. Grillby's is one of the many noted places in Jaliceport. Everyone knows everyone here. I'm sure if a stranger came to this place, everyone would know that person's name within the first hour they were there. Like always, the dogs were here and were chatting up what was going on around the town. The staff finally were comfortable with opening the schools again, but they weren't letting the students in until next week. It was Thursday.

Dad begins drinking his coffee, finally having calmed down. It was peaceful during the morning. If you stopped by Grillby's during this hour, you wouldn't hear many people speaking. This was mostly because everyone was still trying to wake up from last night. Ever since Damien, my friends, and I made up, nothing has really been going on. We've had absolutely no reports of the Resistance. I know that's because they're getting better with their attacks, but...it's oddly calm. The tense air from days ago was gone now and everything seemed completely normal. Maybe...maybe the Resistance gave up? No, that's just me being hopeful...then what? What could've made them stop all of a sudden?

"How're you holding up, Dad?" I ask.

"I'm alright, Anna..." Dad responds.

He didn't look alright. The guy looked unnerved and increasingly panicky with each passing moment. I should introduce him to somebody here. First, I'll start with Grillby. I get Dad's attention and spring up a conversation with Grillby. Dad eventually joins in and the two begin chatting. I leave the conversation and, just like I expected, the two kept it going without me. Dad mostly let Grillby do the talking. He would occasionally add in a few things to keep the conversation they had continuing on. Sans gives a questioning look as I turn to him.

"what's your plan?" Sans asks.

"I'm hoping that if he knows some of the people here, he won't be so afraid of everyone," I answer.

"So this place looks exactly like the other one in the Underground?" Dad asks Grillby.

Grillby nods and shows my father a photo of the old restaurant. It was indeed an exact copy of the entire thing. It was a copy from the walls and floors to the counters and tables. It was almost eerie how Grillby was able to do all of this. But considering that he's spent most of his time (or probably his entire life) inside of this place, it shouldn't be surprising.

"It was because everyone was so accustomed to the old bar's look," Grillby explains, "It was...sort of something that was sentimental for them,"

"i thought it was because doggo went crazy when grillby wanted to-"

"Pay that damn tab! "Grillby snaps, "Then you can tell me what happened!"

Sans just chuckles for a moment before turning to me.

"what went on with damien?" he asks.

"He thought that if he went and shoved people around that he would prove that he wasn't weak," I explain, "He was just afraid of losing his life like his Uncle Jay,"

Sans thinks over my words for a bit, a bit indecisive on what to think. I don't blame him. On one hand, it was purely out of fear. On the other, he was still wrong for it. I think that as long as the issue doesn't present itself again, Damien is in the clear. Sans nods, having made up his mind.

"tell me if anything comes up with him," Sans says.

He then looks at me, his usual grin gone now.

" **If he hurts you...** "

"It's fine, Sans,"I assure,"Damien and all of my friends settled our differences,"

"good. nothing to worry about then?"

"Nothing **tibia** worried about, Sans,"

"you're amazing, anna," Sans laughs.

I look back towards Dad and Grillby. They're extremely tied up in their conversation, Dad is now behind the counter with Grillby. Grillby pulls my dad close and they share laughs and the like. My plan had worked. Dad wasn't all that nervous anymore. I get up and sit at a table. Scooting near the windows, I look about as the rain hits the ground. There were a few cars that shoved through all of the rain, and those that were unfortunate enough to be outside were quickly heading for shelter. The sound of the rain hitting the roof gave off a calming sort of white noise. I could fall asleep to this had I not already slept. Grillby looks out the window and gives a frown at the sight of the rain. Oh, right, fire and water don't match up well.

"Rainy day, huh?" Dad asks.

"Y-yeah..." Grillby answers.

"You know, my parents told me that whenever it rains, we're to thank the skies,"

"Why is that...?"

"I was taught that water is cleansing. That it helps us,"

"Cleansing?"

"Well, we use water for all sorts of things, right?" Dad explains,"It quenches thirst, cleans things, grows things we eat, it's versatile. Mom says that without water, we wouldn't have what we need to make it through the day,"

"I could do without water..."

"I get that, but it's a lot more useful that just being rainy and wet,"Dad says,"Give it a try, okay?"

Grillby looks at the rain as it showers down over Jaliceport. You couldn't see the sun behind the clouds so the sky was slightly dark. The monsters and humans that were already inside Grillby's were unable to head out due to the rain. As I scan the streets one last time, I notice Owen quickly running through the rain and bursting through the doors of the town bar. He was soaking wet and shivering. Owen notices me and grins at my presence. He rushes over to the table I was at and Sans joins the two of us.

"You okay?" I ask Owen.

"It's rain,"Owen says,"I'm not going to die, haha!"

Owen looks towards Sans and grins.

"Hey, Funnybones!"

"hey, kiddo,"

"How's Yusef been recovering?" I worry.

"He's gotten some stitches for the wounds he had,"Owen explains,"He'll be fine,"

"anna, look over there," Sans says.

I look to witness Grillby standing at the doors to the bar. He looks at the rain as it pours down onto the town. He had a pair of gloves over his hands. He reaches out with one hand and pulls it back when it touches the rain. He eventually got more confident and left his covered hand in the rain. Dad was with him this entire time. Dad nodded in sheer satisfaction at Grillby's bravery.

"Whoa! Grillby found himself a buddy?" Owen asks.

"Of all the people, it's Dad," I answer.

Dad walks over to us and sits down at our table. Grillby goes back to serving the customers, a bit more cheerful than before. I notice Dad has a slight burn mark on his cheek. Maybe they hugged waaay too much. I forgot Grillby was made of fire before I saw the mark. He looks toward Owen, folds his arms, and thinks.

"Which one is this guy...?" Dad asks,"...Owen...right? The one who has a Bowl Cut hairstyle?"

"Hey! Thaaaat's right!" Owen cheers,"Nice going there, big guy!"

The four of us sat at the table and discuss what we were planning to do in future days. To be honest, I myself had absolutely no idea. Mostly because there was nothing to do outside of my house besides go to school and occasionally to Grillby's. I was already a regular at this place and I was usually brought here by Sans. Speaking of which...Sans doesn't teleport all that often anymore. He'll do it if he really needs to, but he mostly just tends to walk from place to place. It's probably because he just likes hanging around me. Or maybe that it's because he wants to relish his every moment aboveground. I can understand why, it's because when Frisk could RESET, Sans would always just start back underground. I wonder how that must have felt. To have everything taken from you JUST when you thought everything was going to be okay.

-88-

6 PM. More of sitting around the house with absolutely nothing to do. Sans was on the computer again, arguing with someone whose name was probably Linda. Undyne was wrestling around with Gerald again while Toriel reads Frisk a book. Alphys was continuing her anime session. Papyrus was solving word jumble puzzles. I walk over to where Flowey was. He was sitting in a flowerpot on the kitchen table.

"Howdy!" Flowey says,"It's still raining. How did things go?"

"Well, Grillby found himself a friend,"

"Who?"

"Dad,"

"Gerald?"

"Yeah,"

"How'd that happen?" Flowey asks,"Grillby doesn't speak all that much,"

"Let's just say, I helped him out," I answer.

"You're really good at this 'friendship' thing, huh?"

"It's really no big deal,"

Sans walks up to me, a large umbrella in his left hand. He looks at me with a grin that told me we were going out for a walk. We usually do this whenever hanging around the house gets a bit boring. We couldn't hang out in the garden for long since it's cold as heck. It hasn't stopped raining, so I wonder where Sans is bringing me. We head outside late at night and head towards Jaliceport. The rain is still pouring down as we reach the center of town. There it was, the statue of our town's founder. It was in the middle of a pond at the center of Jaliceport. We stand in front of the statue, facing it, my his left hand closing around my right.

"so how are you holding up?" Sans asks,"with the resistance and all,"

"They've quieted down," I respond,"I don't know what to think,"

"yeah, it's strange, but convenient,"

"You have any idea why they're not attacking anymore? Or at least...not more noticeably?"

"i'd guess, but i'd be wrong...right...i don't know. probably because of what happened to carlos," Sans suggests,"maybe they've gotten smarter after carlos left the group,"

That makes sense. Carlos DID get captured by us. Speaking of which...

"What DID happen to Carlos?" I ask,"He was obviously seen on TV. He isn't with the Resistance anymore so..."

"the guy turned himself in," Sans says,"felt that it would be the right thing to do. you really helped him, ya know,"

"So...how did turning himself in go?"

"the town's officers didn't arrest him, but ARE watching him. He can go about his days, he'll just have eyes on him now,"Sans explains,"needless to say, he won't be causing anymore trouble,"

I think that even if he wasn't being watched, Carlos wouldn't hurt anybody. Well, at least, not intentionally. He seems like someone who has their morals in place. Also, with him meeting everyone at my house, and him being taught how FIGHTs work, he should be fine on his own. There's nothing for him to fear anymore and we don't need to be worried about him coming back to terrorize us. All we have to do is move onto the next Resistance member. From that person, we can branch out and make amends with them. Hopefully this winds up better than just more fighting.

"I think he's turning over a new leaf," I say,"How is Damien handling this?"

"he was shaken, of course," Sans explains,"he's alright though,"

"Maybe I'll get to see Carlos some time,"

"just be careful,"

"Sans, I'm fine,"

"you know that saying that doesn't work on me, right?"

"I tried..."

"a for effort,"

We sat there and looked at the statue some more. The founder of our town, Kevin Skarp Jr., came from a poor family. When the person who was supposed to originally found the town had caught a sickness and died, Kevin had taken the money and created what was today, Jaliceport. Even though everyone knows how the town was created, the Skarp family sort of just fell into the void, forgotten. Whenever people mention how the town came to be, the name Skarp is used very scarcely or not at all. Today, only few people even bother to ask where the name "Skarp" comes from. It was quiet out, silent as can be. The only audible sound was the rain that scattered over everything. All the cars were away and everyone was indoors, taking shelter from the rain. After a while, I got an uneasy feeling that we were being watched. Sans gets it too, because he turns to me with a worried look.

"we should get going,"

Sans and I head on the path that led us out of town and towards our home. He leads me forward by my hand as I look about for danger. Sans scans the area around us a few times and continues walking. After a while, he stops abruptly and freezes. I peek out from behind Sans and see a tall man standing there. The gun he was holding, a magnum pistol, was pointed at the ground. After he sees me, however, the gun is pointed directly at Sans. Does he think Sans means to harm me? Sans looks towards me and nods to a nearby alleyway. I head for cover quickly after the man readies his gun. Peeking out from behind a wall, I listen to them speak.

"i'm trying to go home...can you move?" Sans asks.

"Where's the girl from?" The man asks

"same place i'm goin'. up the-"

Sans pauses and looks a bit closer at the man.

"you're one of them...the resistance, right?"

"Lucky guess,"

"it wasn't hard,"

A moment later, a hand grab my shoulder. I gasp and turn around to see Carlos standing behind me. I smile and he returns it.

"Why are you here?"

"I'm watching the Resistance," Carlos says,"I just so happened to notice you as I was looking for them. So far, that man there is the only Resistance member I've found still active,"

I look back towards Sans and things began to escalate. Carlos looks forward and his face gets a bit more disturbed.

"Carlos didn't kill Gerson. I did," the man says.

Apparently, the creator of the Resistance, Ricky Skarp, made the group to originally be peaceful. It was just to make sure that the people in the town were safe. The man right there, Steven Fordfern, took more aggressive measures since he figured that doing nothing wouldn't work. It seemed like just more irrational measures. Steven then speaks, giving me more of a reason to listen to him.

"Ricky has been forgotten, thrown into an endless void," Steven says,"Recall how everyone just sort of ignores his entire family. They're outcasts, having been that way ever since the older days. The poor were overshadowed by the rich, and so everyone forgot about the name 'Skarp',"

This man felt that taking action was going to give Skarp more attention. Yes, this is going to get him a LOT of attention, but the wrong kind. Like he had said earlier, this was supposed to be a peaceful group. Apparently Steven had swayed most of the Resistance to listen to what he had planned, and so that's how the Resistance became known as the violent group they are today. Exactly WHY they haven't done anything as of late is because of Carlos. After he had gotten caught by Sans and I, the Resistance gave up following Steven and went back to Ricky. Steven, still determined to fight back, went his own ways. Now, he's shunned by his own group.

'And all because he went about things in the wrong way.'

'He meant well, but that wasn't enough to clear himself.'

'Murder is murder. Well intentions don't excuse it.'

Thoughts filled my head on exactly what to do in this situation. Sure, he meant well, but he still took the life of another. That wasn't fair at all.

"I'm not letting you monsters take away the only safety this town has!" Steven says.

"we're not doing anything like that!" Sans protests.

"Leave him alone Steven,"

Carlos steps out from the alleyway and faces Steven. They stare each other down, taking in each other's appearance.

"You again!" Steven says,"Because of you the Resistance nearly fell apart!"

"No, YOU fell apart. Because what you thought was right was wrong,"

"This is all for the better of mankind!"

"Monsterkind is important too,"Carlos says,"Murder doesn't excuse well meant intentions,"

"You don't think I know that!?"

"I just wanted to make sure. You keep on insisting your plan will solve everything. NOTHING IS WRONG IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

"But what if-"

"What if monsters take the SOULs of humans?" Carlos interrupts,"Trust me, after what I've seen, you won't need to worry about them. They're pretty nice,"

Carlos looks at Sans and grins as he says that. Carlos walks up to Steven and attempts to take the gun away from him. Steven and him wrestle with the gun as it fires off. Neither of them got shot, but Carlos was shoved to the ground. Steven walks past him and aims the gun at Sans. Sans, seeing that things weren't getting any better for himself. Blocks the shots towards him using bones. Carlos gets up and manages to grab the barrel and point it at the sky before another shot was fired off. Steven slams his fist into Carlos' stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Sans blocks more of the bullets and launches his own attacks. Bones flew at Steven and hit their mark pretty easily. Even though Sans did the least amount of damage, there was the Karmic Retribution that his bones were affixed with. What's Karmic Retribution? You readers might know it as the thing that gradually drains your HP. But how would YOU know that's what it does, you murderers?

Steven falls to the ground, crippled from the damage he took. Sans goes to help up Carlos and I figure this is an okay time to stop hiding. I come out from the alleyway and head towards Sans and Carlos. As the three of us try and calm down I hear the sound of a gun being readied. Carlos and Sans were still trying to recover from shock as I turn around to see Steven. The gun he held was aimed straight at Sans. I look towards Sans with a frightened look and rush to protect him. As the gun fires off, I'm pierced with the ammo. I quickly collapse to the ground.

"ANNA!" I hear Sans yell.

His voice soon fades out suddenly. He had been shot with the same bullet. I wondered why until I realized, I was right in front of Sans when the gun fired. I caught a glimpse of Steven. He had an absolutely horrified look on his face. He looks at me for a second before dropping his gun and running off. Carlos yells his name in anger before turning to us. I could see Sans scatter into dust and his SOUL start to shatter. My vision blacks out for a moment. I was dying, my life at an end. There was no way for me to reach my SAVE, it's all in my diary. I was warned that this would happen...but...I can't die, not yet. Not when I've finally reached my family aboveground. It's going to take a lot more than a well-aimed bullet to get rid of me.

It started off slow at first, but my SOUL was starting to come back together. Before Sans' SOUL had managed to completely shatter, the parts of my SOUL mix with his for a bit, helping him and I form back together. Sans' being finally starts to come back. His dust was no longer there, and he was alive. I managed to pull myself off of the ground and stand up. I felt...a bit stronger than before. Maybe it was the relief of overcoming something like that, I have no idea. Sans pulls me close quickly after he's sure I'm okay.

"why?"

"Sorry...but I had to help,"

"you're lucky i care too much,"

I laugh and we pull away. Walking towards Carlos, he looks at the both of us with wide-eyes. Sans gives a confused look.

"somethin' wrong?"

"We're okay, Carlos," I say,"Calm down,"

Carlos coughs, embarrassed, and looks at the two of us again. He shakes his head, trying to calm down.

"It's not your near-death situation,"He says,"It's how you two managed to survive that,"

"What do you mean?"

Carlos initiates a FIGHT to explain what he means. My SOUL shows itself right as the battle starts. I look down at it and my mouth drops open. Sans just gives a shocked look.

"tori is going to kill me for this..."

* * *

 **Cliiiiifhaaaaaangerr! I hate doing cliffhangers purely because I want to continue writing. But I do cliffhangers for SUSPENSE and EXCITEMENT! It also encourages you guys to read the next chapter. YOU CAN'T RESIST, ADMIT IT. Anyways, I don't know if this chapter lives up to the story as a whole. That's why I look towards you guys to give feedback on the chapters I upload. Criticism really helps improve this story and makes it likeable to most people. I understand that this story isn't everybody's Cup of Tea, so that's why I work to improve it. So, like usual, be sure to review, favorite, or follow if you liked this chapter. Until then!**


	7. Fear and Sadness

**I think this chapter turned out pretty well! I don't know if this was dialogue-heavy or not...it probably is. This is going to address an issue a certain someone has had to deal with ever since they got aboveground. I don't know if it's going to kick people in the feels or just make them feel extreme sympathy. Also...I've got something special planned for that diary that Anna carries around. I hope you guys have fun with this chapter! Until then!**

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Sans, Carlos, and I quickly went home, running to avoid getting even more soaked by the rain; a single umbrella could only do so much. As we open the door to the house, Toriel is tapping her foot, waiting for us. Sans freezes and gives a nervous laugh. Carlos just sidesteps towards the wall and looks away from the rest of us. I stare, waiting for the rant to come crashing down. Dad was there too, so things weren't going to get any better for us.

"uh...just...bringing the kid home," Sans says,"don't mean to **rain** on your parade and all, but...nothing's wrong,"

Toriel isn't amused. Dad just gets angrier. Toriel walks up to Sans and looks him in the eyesocket. Sans smile starts to falter a small bit, realizing that making jokes is just going to make the situation get even worse.

"9PM, Sans," She says,"What were you two doing out there!?"

"tori, calm down, we were just talking and-"

"9PM!" She yells,"You know you should not be out so late! They might find you!"

"i know, i know," Sans says,"relax, we're okay,"

Toriel finally seems to be composing herself. Her angered face softens and she just gives a stern look.

"You two could have gotten lost, or sick out in the rain..." She worries.

"i'm fine. anna's okay, everything is alright,"

Dad walks up to me and pulls me aside while Toriel and Sans talk. He looks at me with a mildly annoyed face.

"Listen, nobody got hurt," I begin,"I'm sorry I was out so late, but it was only a talk. Plus, Sans was with me,"

"But you KNOW that THEY might find you,"Dad says,"What then?"

"Sans could handle them," I protest,"Plus, I've been throughout the entire UNDERGROUND,"

"Regardless of that, Anna, you have to be careful!"

I sigh at Dad's caring nature. He was a great father, but sometimes he could fret a bit too much. But that's just how fathers are; they care about their family.

"Sorry Dad," I say.

"It's alright, Anna,"Dad affirms,"I just can't risk losing a family member. I thought you were gone when you left that one day,"

He meant when I fell down Mount Ebott. It was a bit of a shocker for me too. I never thought that there was an entire world below ours this entire time. Regardless of how scary the situation was for me and the others, I enjoyed it immensely. I met so many people down there, including the monsters I've lived with for 5 months now. They're so close we call them family, even if we aren't related by blood...dust...I don't even know. Dad ruffles my hair a slight bit and Sans comes over, the usual grin on his face. It was amazing how quickly he can recover from things. As Dad walks away to go tend to other things, I see Papyrus speeding out from the hallway on one of those hands-free electric scooters, his arms flailing wildly. Some people call them "hoverboards"...but they don't hover so I have no idea why they're called that. I had gotten him one for Christmas, which was last and Charles quickly chase after Papyrus as he moves around the house on that miniature deathtrap.

"Papyrus you're going a bit too-"

"AHHHH!"

The scooter sharply turns and hits the wall. Papyrus goes flying off of it. He was heading straight for Undyne and Alphys, who were just finishing up the latest episode of Mettaton's new show.

"PAPYRUS!" I yell.

I reach my arm out towards him and a blue magic suddenly causes him to stop. Everyone freezes as it happens and Papyrus looks completely bewildered. Right as he stops moving in mid air, I yelp out of surprise. Papyrus quickly drops to the floor, the blue magic quickly disappearing. He lands face-first on the floor and I cringe at the sight.

"I'M OKAY!" Papyrus calls out.

I help Papyrus off the ground and Sans comes over, a shaken look on his face. I ask him what's the matter and he points towards Toriel, who's eyeing him with a suspicious look. Alphys walks up to the two of us, fiddling with her hands.

"Umm...y-you mind telling us what's going on?" She asks.

Everyone forms a circle around me besides Sans and Carlos. Soon after, the latter come through the crowd and stand near me. I was going to speak up about what had happened before Sans interrupts and speaks first.

"i'll explain,"he says,"you guys are not gonna believe this,"

(One humongous explanation later...)

"WAIT, WHAT!?" They all yell.

"Yep, that reaction was expected," Carlos says, deadpan.

Everyone was sitting down in the living room. Frisk and Flowey had joined us a while later. Though Frisk never spoke, they looked pretty shocked about what they were being told. It was an understandable reaction though; who ever heard of a monster SOUL and a human SOUL fusing together?

"Wait, you mean to tell me that my sis has half of your SOUL!?" Charles says.

"and i have half of hers," Sans explains,"i...don't know exactly how it happened but..."

"But, uh, you said that BOTH your SOULs were shattering, right?" Alphys asks,"Maybe your SOULs had merged with each other for support. But even then, this...um...hasn't happened before...I-I don't have a reasonable explanation for it,"

"WAIT..."Papyrus says,"IF YOU HAVE PART OF MY BROTHER'S SOUL..."

Papyrus face slowly gets more excited with each passing second. I back up a bit, uneasy with what was about to take place. Papyrus runs towards me and gives me a tight hug.

"LITTLE SISTER!" He cheers.

"Papyrus...hug...hurting..." I say.

"uh paps, you might wanna let go," Sans says

I'm quickly released from Papyrus' iron grip. I take a few quick breaths of air to help myself recover.

"Well, what are we going to do?" Asgore asks,"

"We'll talk more about this tomorrow," Carlos says,"It's 9:30 now,"

"Carlos is right, we should rest some more," Asgore says,"We'll be able to focus more tomorrow,"

-88-

It's that dream again. I was in the Final Corridor. I've solved my internal issues, right? I felt sure that I was innocent...right?...No, I didn't. If there's one thing I can never let go of, it's the thought of actually bringing myself to hurt the people I held close. Sans again stood at the end, staring me down with a look that would scare even the gods.

" **I was wondering how long you'd keep me waiting** ,"

I say absolutely nothing to Dream Sans. He wasn't real, none of this was real. He couldn't hurt me, even if it hurt to go through this dream in the first place. Maybe...maybe if I go through this dream one more time, I'll finally be able to get the weight of the world off my shoulders. I wasn't a murderer...not in this timeline at lea- Anna, cut it out! You're innocent, even if you don't think so. That wasn't you. It COULDN'T be you.

" **Silent again, huh**?" Sans asks," **Typical, you never really DID speak all that often** ,"

Still nothing. Sans talked about me being silent most of the time. Yeah, I never DID talk all that much until I fell into the Undergund. I learned to be caring...and not a murderer. I turn my head down at the floor and frown. My eye catches a knife that I'm clasping tightly. I look back up towards Sans, who continues gazing at me, angrily. Steeling myself, I throw the knife to the ground. The sound of the steel hitting the ground echoes throughout the area. Sans' eyesockets widened and he gives a look of remembrance. He gave a blank look at me, as if he was staring off into space. He turns his skull to the floor, eyes shut tight, and murmurs a few words under his breath. Two Gaster Blasters are summoned and their beams are fired at me.

However, instead of freezing up like last time, I dodge both of them. That was...oddly easy. The Blasters took longer to fire off than usual. Sans just keeps his head angled at the floor.

* * *

 **Sans seems bothered by something.**

 **Anna LV 19 HP: 92/92**

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

* * *

 **Check** **Wake up** *** Talk**

* * *

"Something wrong, Sans?"

" **Is this some sort of sick joke?** " He asks," **You get all the way here, and then decide to quit** ,"

"I'm not joking with you, Sa-,"

" **This is just so you can mess with my head, huh?** " he asks," **This is to show me that no matter what happens, I can't do a single thing about it?** "

Sans still refuses to look at me. Is he afraid to do so? This had never happened with any of the dreams I've been through before. Usually, I don't have much control over the dreams. Unless...Then it hit me. This WAS a dream, that was for sure, but I'd also manage to get a look at Sans' thoughts. I guess having his SOUL let me witness the struggle he had to go through...Maybe I can help him, but I have to make this dream end off on a good note.

"Sans, you're wrong," I begin,"And besides, I know you don't want to fight in the first place,"

" **You killed everyone!** " he yells," **What makes you think-** "

"You hesitated," I interrupt,"Did you see how long it took you to attack me?"

That shut him up. He clenches his hands into fists and shakes his head. His aggression just leaves him shortly after. But...he's not his usual self. His next words are said in a sort of tired tone.

"it's that obvious, huh?" Sans asks,"i had nothing else to do but wait for another RESET...it was the only way i'd get to see everyone again. but...i know that things weren't going to go my way. you kept coming out of the RUINS with dust on yourself. eventually...i just gave up...after so many times of trying to fight back,"

"So that's why you hesitated?" I ask,"Because you felt that things weren't going to work out anyway?"

"nah, it isn't only that," He says,"you dropped that knife. it...was sort of a callback...to when things actually DID go right for once,"

'after dealing with chara so many times, you came along and ended the constant RESETs...'

'and it was all because you existed.'

'and just like frisk used to, you never lifted a finger to hurt anybody unless you had to.'

'but...frisk usually RESET after saving everyone.'

'you...you didn't just erase everything then and there.'

'you let everybody live happy...longer than frisk EVER did.'

"when you finally RESET again, the amount of betrayal i felt couldn't even be expressed in words," Sans finishes.

I just frowned.

"i'm tired of going through all of this. i'm tired of having to make my way here and put SO much effort in trying to stop you, just to lose," Sans says,"i'm tired of constantly hoping that things will go alright for once. **I'M TIRED OF FIGHTING!** "

He sinks to the floor and holds his skull in his right hand. That blue glow his eyesocket would burn with wasn't there anymore. I was able to see his face a lot clearer now. I edge closer, looking for anything different about him. What I saw made my heart sink a slight bit. A blue line came from his eyesocket and went off of his skull. I hated seeing Sans cry, especially when I was the cause of it. It meant that I had done something that's going to bother him for a long amount of time. Sans never forgets, that's for sure. Even if he looks lazy, there's a lot of strength behind that relaxed grin of his.

"...just kill me,"

"...What?"

"i said i was tired of all of this," Sans explains,"the least you can do is put me out of my misery,"

* * *

 **Sans is giving up.**

 **Anna LV 20 HP: 92/92**

 **[FIGHT] [ACT] [ITEM] *[MERCY]**

* * *

 *** Spare Flee**

* * *

Sans looks up at me, his tear-covered face completely revealed to me. He just gives a slight glare.

"won't even do THAT for me, huh?" he asks.

I just stare at him and hold out my hand, offering to help him from the floor. He just blinks before giving a sigh and taking my hand. Pulling him up, he looks at me intently. He angles his head at the floor again, his eyesockets still open.

"no...i know you too well; you're better than that, you always have been. you'll just keep going until you feel that things are okay,"Sans says,"...it aggravates me sometimes, but...i can't hate you for it..."

He gives a bittersweet smile as my vision of the dream fades out.

-88-

I wake up late at night. 10:28 I think. A depressed feeling washes over me. I'm instantly drawn towards the door to my room. I get out of my bed and let my mind lead me towards Sans' room. It was upstairs like mine. If you step out of my room and head towards the door on the far right, that one is for Sans. Frisk and Papyrus' rooms are between ours. I head towards his room and knock on the door. It unlocks shortly after and I take that as the A-Okay to head inside. Opening the door, I see Sans sitting in the center of his bed, legs crossed, his head buried in his hands. He peeks at me for a small bit and I see a blue glow emanating from his skull. He was crying, just like in the dream I had. Walking over to him, I sit on the edge of the bed. His room was slightly messy, like the one back in Snowdin. Sans had his bed sheets wrapped around him firmly. The blue light from his eyesocket shined on the walls of his room, making it easer to see in the darkness.

"somethin' keeping you up, anna?" He asks.

"Don't play dumb, Sans," I retort.

He sighs and looks at me with a weak smile, knowing that his lie wasn't working.

"what made you come check on me?" He asks.

"I felt that I had to," I reply,"Something didn't sit right with me,"

"...was it the dream again?"

"How'd you know?"

"i had a feeling...that you'd talk to me about it,"

I think for a slight bit. Sans knew that I'd come here to talk to him, and I was led here by a hunch. Normally my hunches aren't true...unless...maybe Sans' SOUL was the thing leading me here. It'd make sense I'd be able to know he needed help if that was the case.

"Sans, what's going on with you?" I ask,"I thought we'd agreed that I was innocent,"

He doesn't speak to me. A silence fills the area, making the atmosphere slightly heavy. He'd been keeping all of this stress and pain behind that smile of his. And I was blind enough to go along with it. It shouldn't really be a surprise though, he'd dealt with Frisk/Chara so many times. I guess when I RESET for the first time in the other timeline, it'd broke him completely. But...I never thought he would just cling to those memories like that. _Especially_ when said memories are painful enough to make you give up on life. I don't want to lose a family member of mine, especially when I've just gotten everyone aboveground.

"Sans, I promised that there wouldn't be anymore RESETs,"

"...i know..."

"Then why do you insist on keeping all of this stress?"

"i-i...i'm worried,"

"About what?"

"about...what if this is all going to disappear in an instant?" He asks,"i know you promised that things would be okay, but...frisk said the same thing. I lived aboveground for a while...going throughout the day like I normally did. and then...it was gone. i was underground again. everybody was still trapped under the surface. i tried so hard to get the kid to QUIT, but...it never worked. time after time i saw them fight, i knew that if i stepped in that i'd be killed like the rest of them. that's why i didn't stop them once they came out of the ruins covered in dust,"

Sans looks at me with a stare that practically cut into my entire being. It was like he could see through me...and strangely, it wasn't all that eerie anymore.

"i couldn't do anything except wait," Sans says,"now that we're above ground again, i just can't let go of the feeling that we're going to wind up back at square one,"

I loved my family and all the monsters I've met in the Underground. Ripping away their happiness would hurt me too, since I'd be the one that'd done it to them. I can't think about things like that because I'll just beat myself down for it. My mind constantly reminded me that the murder of everyone was my fault since I saw myself covered in dust with a knife. But...I have nothing to fear. That wasn't me. I'm not a murderer.

"Why'd you tell me that I was innocent if you didn't believe completely it yourself?"I ask.

"i just didn't want you to carry the burden for something that wasn't your fault," He says,"i wanted you to stay the happy kid you've always been, the kid i saw back when you nearly died at snowdin. the kid that would always go the extra mile to help others. had i told you that the death of us all was your fault, you'd never forgive yourself. you'd be a wreck,"

"I know that you feel that way, but knowing that you're afraid and stressed about this world disappearing because of _me_ hurts worse," I say,"I'd never want to hurt any of you guys, I love you guys too much for that to happen,"

I hop onto Sans' bed and give him a hug. He shakes a small bit and hugs back, trying to calm down; he'd been crying earlier and was still trying to recover from it. The blue light he had glowed was dimming, finally.

"Plus, we're technically related now, so..."

"you have part of my SOUL,"Sans says,"where does that put you in my family, a twin?"

"I don't really know, but Papyrus seemed pretty happy about it," I say,"I'd be _fibula_ ing if I said he didn't,"

Sans chuckles to himself a bit. Papyrus was practically overflowing with joy when he realized I was technically related to him. That hug actually HURT. I didn't know he was _that_ strong.

"hey, uh, you might wanna get some sleep," Sans says,"if tori catches you awake..."

"I know, Sans,"

As I close the door to his room, I head back to mine. My heart finally felt at rest. The emotional pain that I had felt earlier was gone completely and I smiled, knowing that the relief meant that Sans had finally come to terms with his thoughts.

No more pain, no more sorrow.

* * *

 **I think this chapter went really well. I wanted to address what'd go on if the two shared a SOUL. That meant that they'd be able to feel each other's emotional pain. This is because monsters are attuned to their SOUL. If they feel pain, their SOUL is affected by it. Anna, having half a monster's SOUL, could feel that pain. And when all was said and done, she could feel the monster's relief. Also...BROTHER SANS! I FINALLY SAID IT! Also, I didn't think of the family thing until I started wondering about how things would go if a monster shared a SOUL with a human. HOW is that going to go about...I have no idea. Anyways, if you enjoyed this chapter, be sure to review, favorite, or follow if you enjoyed this story. Until then!**


	8. A Friend Made

**I'm having fun writing this story. It's something I enjoy doing whenever I get the chance to. Of course, seeing your reviews lets me know that the direction I'm heading with the story is the right direction. Honestly, I didn't think I'd get at least 1,000 views on this story since it takes a completely different turn from RESET and SAVE. I just assumed most people would just turn a blind eye to it.**

 **Anyways, enough rambling from me. I'm focusing this story around building the character of Steven Fordfern. I want him to feel more like a unique character just like the cast of charactes we already have. Also...foreshadowing! Try and guess what it was!**

 **-Replying to Reviews-**

 **imnotraven16 - I've been waiting to say Big Brother Sans in this story. You have absolutely no idea.**

 **ChocaSkitz - How does it feel to know that your guess was absolutely correct?**

 **I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Thanks for taking the time out of your day to read this story. Until then!**

* * *

I wake up feeling ready to start off a new day. 9AM. Today was going to be better than the last, I'm sure of-

 **Nope.**

It was raining _again_. This was the third day in a row. The sound of rain hitting my window fills the room and I look outside and watch as the skies are darkened once again. Grillby is probably pacing around his bar like crazy right now...wait, nope. Dad is probably helping him get over his fear of water; he's been taking trips to Grillby's every morning. Although...I'm not sure that's a _good_ thing. Fire and water do _not_ mix. After seeing the rain again, I suddenly didn't feel like getting out of bed anymore; there's practically nothing for me to do now. I begin to wonder if the rest of this month is just going to be as bleak and boring as the gray clouds outside of my house. Maybe I could call over my friends for today...nope, their parents wouldn't allow it. Especially after they'd been lost under Mount Ebott for so long.

'C'mon, Anna!' I think,'You can't let yourself be tied down by rain! You can still enjoy today.'

I flash a smile and get out of bed. Putting on my trademark white sweater with a black music note in the center and blue shorts, I head downstairs. Alphys was sitting in the chair, trying to wake herself up for today with some coffee. Undyne was laid out on the couch, snoring loudly. Papyrus was sitting in front of the TV with Frisk in his lap and Toriel was watering Flowey. I look around for Sans before hearing his snoring upstairs; he hadn't come down yet. At least Undyne came downstairs...but she's still asleep so I have no idea if that's any better than Sans. Gazing around the room, I see Asgore sitting at the table by himself, a frown on his face. I walk over to him and pull up a chair. Asgore seemed to be thinking hard about something, his brows were furrowed and he had a sort of tense look on his face. I get his attention and tilt my head at him. He just shakes his head, saying nothing's wrong. He isn't a good liar.

"Asgore, if something's the matter, tell me!" I say,"Otherwise, I can't help you,"

"I...am just trying to decide on what to do," He says,"Your father, Gerald, is usually around to talk to me..."

So that's why he's so bored...Of course, I can't just force Dad to come down here and talk to Asgore, he's my father. So...while Dad's away, I'll sit here and keep Asgore company. I look at Asgore for a small bit before gazing at the rainy window again. I hear a loud snoring sound coming from upstairs, everyone freezes for a second before going back to being tired again. This, combined with the sound of rain, didn't help me stay awake. One of my eyes started to close. I eventually hear a groan and a yawn coming from upstairs a few seconds later. Shortly after, Sans comes downstairs and steps into view, one of his eyesockets are closed and the other is half open. I noticed that Charles didn't come downstairs with him. He's probably out with Dad somewhere.

"the rain is still falling?" Sans asks,"we could've gone out somewhere,"

"The rain hasn't stopped for two days," I reply,"What makes you think it's going to stop now?"

"I quite like the rain," Asgore cuts in,"It is calming,"

Asgore was right, I could fall asleep to this. Everyone else was tired, the TV was turned down low so that nobody else would be disturbed, and the sound of snoring filled the room. I turn back to Sans and realize he's wearing that dark blue house coat he'd bought a few days ago. He'd commonly wear it around the house when he wanted to keep warm or just felt like doing it. Time and time again he'd sit on the couch in the morning laying in that coat and sleep. Sans taught me to relax once in a while so his laziness had helped me.

"You can stay down here and laze about with everyone else," I offer,"We're all **bone tired** today,"

Sans chuckles and grins at me, Asgore shakes his head and smiles, and Toriel laughs quietly.

"Sans, what did you do to Little Sister?" Papyrus asks.

Wow, even Papyrus was tired; he wasn't speaking in his usual loud tone. You really wouldn't understand how shocked I was to hear a _quiet_ Papyrus unless you heard it for yourself. It was as if someone put a semi-effective muzzle over him and his voice was just suddenly _that_ much quieter. This worked out in my favor though, it was peaceful this way.

"i taught her the **bone minimum** of bad jokes," Sans explains,"she's learning really quickly, though,"

More laughs are passed around and Undyne is finally snapping awake.

"Saaaaaaans," Papyrus complains, still in his quiet voice.

"c'mon, if you have a **bone to pick with me** , say something!"

"SAAAAAANS!"

There's the Papyrus we all know and love. Everyone snaps awake from that loud voice and audibly groans, tired.

"B-but I don't wanna get up yet..." Alphys complains.

"Whyyyyy," Undyne whines.

"It was so quiet..." Flowey moans.

-88-

Everyone sat down in the living room. It was either that they wanted to have the quiet atmosphere from before or they just didn't care about me having half a monster's SOUL...I think they just wanted peace and quiet. I say that because when I asked Toriel about it, she waved it off and let out a yawn. Seeing as there was nothing else to do, I head over to Asgore, who was still by himself since Dad wasn't back yet.

"How is it...being half monster and all," Asgore asks.

"I feel stronger than before," I answer,"Also a lot tired than before..."

"Why is that?" He asks,"I thought you all would be up by now,"

"I have that tired feeling because Sans refuses to WAKE UP!"

"Noooooo," Undyne moans from the couch,"Five more minutes..."

"You and Dad are the only ones fully awake at 9," I claim,"But since Dad's gone, you're the only one up and ready,"

Asgore's face gives a slightly saddened look. He and Toriel weren't completely back together. The most they would ever get in a conversation is an exchange of a few words. Seeing that this was going to take a while before they make up, Asgore went to Dad for conversations and fun. Basically, if you need to know anything about Asgore, ask Toriel or Dad. Everything went back to being still, the sound of rain fills the room again and people were about to go back to sleep. Everyone usually wakes up at 11AM. That meant we had one more hour to go before something ha-

 **Nope.**

There's a knock at the front door, it's rather frantic. I go to open it and I'm face to face with Steven from the other day, completely soaked. My face turns white and I slowly back away. Steven's mouth just drops open, surprised that I'm alive and still here. Steven combs his hair with his left hand and gives a nervous smile. I hear Undyne walk into the kitchen.

"Hey, kid, who's at the door?" Undyne asks,"...Is that...?"

I lead Steven inside the house slowly. Closing the door, I sit him down at the kitchen table whilst everyone else is in the living room. While I'm sitting across from him, Undyne comes over and gives a surprised look at our guest. Her face then quickly turns to that of extreme anger. Steven turns his head away with an apologetic look. Luckily, everyone else was chatting near the fireplace. Steven quickly tries to explain himself.

"Listen, I know I screwed up, bu-"

"Screwed up?" Undyne asks,"Screwed up!? You nearly killed her!"

Steven cringes at her snappish tone. He frowns and looks at her directly now.

"That's why I came here in the first place...to make up for what I've done,"

Without the sound of the rain-we were indoors-covering everything, I could hear his voice clear as day, even if he was speaking a bit quietly. His voice sounded forced, as if he was making himself speak a certain way. It almost sailed right over my head that really _was_ speaking differently before Flowey popped up near us again and spoke. He was once again sitting on that wall ledge.

"Ooooh, YOU," Flowey says,"You picked the wrong time showing up HERE. You want a problem? I'll gladly show you it,"

"H-hey now, I came tae apologize for ma actions," Steven argues.

Wait up a second...

"Was that an accent?" I ask.

Steven looks at me with a tiny smile; I was right. But exactly WHY is it that I didn't hear this accent before? Probably because you don't see all that many different accents here. Everybody sort of just develops the same sort of speech. Looks like Steven just tried to be like everybody else. I guess Flowey scared the accent out of him. I'll have to thank him for that later.

"You should speak like that some more," I say,"I don't hear many different accents in Jaliceport,"

"Ay, it is Scottish," He says,"Had it since A wis a wee bairn,"

THAT was a BIG change in his speech. This guy did a complete 180 on me! His voice was now a LOT deeper than normal.

"Bairn?"

"Ye fowk use 'child' A think,"

So we had a Scottish guy in the house now. Steven spoke with a profound accent. He's even more into that accent than my Dad is with his Danish accent. Dad gradually left his old form of speech behind. But...as you can tell, his mother tongue still comes back to him. Steven lets out a big sigh of relief.

"That's much better," He says,"It hurt speakin' that other way constantly,"

"Hey, aren't you with that gang?" Undyne questions.

"Ye mey hae the wrong idea,"

"MAY is an understatement," I say,"Everyone thinks you guys are crazed freaks!"

Sans hears the commotion and walks into the kitchen. Seeing Steven, the light within his eyes disappear and his smile twitches a small bit. Steven just angles his head down at the table and doesn't look at Sans. Hey, at least I know his moral compass is in check.

" **Why are you here?"** Sans asks.

"A ken whit A did wis wrong, so A decided tae help ye fowk out," Steven says.

"I'm not sure I trust you," Undyne says,"Why would you just jump to helping us when the other day, you were set on getting rid of us all,"

"A didnae ken it would end up like this," Steven says,"The reputation an all,"

"That's no excuse!"

"A understand that," Steven says,"That's why A want tae redeem masel...Cauld, isnae it?"

"Oh, sorry!" I say,"One second,"

-88-

I had to turn up the thermostat a notch. After a while, everyone else had woken up and sat around, listening to Steven talk about exactly WHY he did what he did. Asgore started off the questions, giving him the benefit of the doubt. Everyone else was as skeptical as my Dad is of the Nice Cream Man.

"I'm telling you, he's planning something," Dad would say.

"Dad, he just wants people to buy his ice cream..." I would protest.

Okay...basically how it went down...before Jaliceport came to be what it was today, it used to have a society where the poor were overshadowed by the rich. Like I had said earlier, the name "Skarp" was falling into a complete void simply BECAUSE they were poor. The people we have today grew up, and they kept those morals. The people that MOVED here back then were those that taught the opposite of what was naturally learned. They taught that poor are just as valuable as the rich. Nowadays, the terms poor and rich rarely matter to anyone. The people had learned their lesson and everyone was treated equally...But...since Ricky Skarp was still being forgotten, Steven grew angrier.

He took to taking a violent approach because he felt that it would give Skarp the attention that he "deserved". Unfortunately, it was the wrong kind of attention. Steven, unfortunately, realized this too late and wound up being avoided by the friend that he held so close to him. Steven grew angry from this and went on his own path. Soon, the Resistance became known not for its original intent, peace, but for the misdeeds of one sole person. The tale that Steven told about Olden Jaliceport was shocking, really, because Dad NEVER said anything about this at ALL. I wonder how Charles would react to that big background this town had. He'd probably be upset that Dad had said absolutely nothing about this at all. Personally, I wouldn't blame him if he DID get upset.

"Yer faither, Gerald, kent aboot the auld days o Jaliceport," Steven says,"Hae he ever spoken tae ye aboot it?"

"No, actually Olden Jaliceport is near unknown to me,"

"It would be the right thing to clear your friend's name, would it not?" Toriel asks.

"If you want, we could teach you how FIGHTs work," Flowey offers.

"Naw, Carlos niver let up aboot it once he had learned it from ye," Steven says,"A've got the basic idea,"

"S-so exactly, uh, HOW are we going to make this plan work?" Alphys asks,"Clearing, um, his name, a-and all,"

"HE SPEAKS FUNNY," Papyrus says.

"uh, actually...paps, i think that's scottish,"

"OH...HELLO, SCOTTISH HUMAN!" Papyrus chirps,"THE GREAT PAPYRUS WELCOMES YOU TO OUR HOME,"

"Hello, Lad," Steven greets back,"Glad tae be here, and all,"

"So...what are you going to do now?" Asgore asks,"You have a lot of problems to fix,"

"A'll try an help Carlos," Steven says,"That is...if A can convince him,"

Steven thanked us for listening and insisted that he'd better be on his way. He was afraid that my father wouldn't be as merciful as the others had been, especially since I was his child and all. He waves to us and heads towards the door. Frisk stops him and hands him an umbrella. Steven rubs their head, thanking them.

"Oh, uh, sorry, Anna," Steven says,"Tae ye too, Sans,"

Steven opens the umbrella and heads off into the rain. Toriel goes towards the windows and stared out at the rain as it mercilessly covered everything in water.

"It has not stopped raining yet," She says,"Maybe...something is coming,"

"Yeah, more rain!" Undyne jokes.

Frisk taps on my shoulder. Looking towards them, they sign.

'What if it's a flood?'

"If it's a flood, then I don't know what to do besides find cover," I say,"But even then, we shouldn't have much to worry about while up here. Our home is right near Mount Ebott, remember?"

That didn't seem to comfort Frisk. They were still set on believing that we were in some sort of danger. While we're at it, when the time comes, we should help the rest of the town. Our town is one of the major ports of the world so we're right near the ocean. If a flood were to happen, it would devastate us. But we haven't exactly had weather this bad before.

"F-Frisk thinks it's a flood?" Alphys asks,"Well, uh, what're we gonna do about it?"

"well, i don't know about you guys, but i'm gonna help anna with something," Sans says, pulling me aside.

"What're we doing?" I ask.

"if you want...i could help ya with that magic you have now," Sans says, waving his hand a bit.

I noticed that as he waved it around that it pulsed a blue color.

"You sure about that?" I question.

"yeah, i am," He says,"just be careful to not use it too much. there's a reason i sleep a lot, you know,"

-88-

"just try and focus your attention on me," Sans says,"hold your arm out,"

Sans had gathered everybody to watch me learn how magic works. Doing as Sans instructs, I lift my hand to where he was. I feel a sudden shock of energy rush up my arm and turn my hand blue. It surprised me so much that I yelped a bit and the color faded. Sans folds his arms and gives a patient look.

"you can't be caught off guard by things like that," Sans says,"it's just a part of magic. try it again,"

I lift my hand in his direction like before. As my hand glows a bright blue, Sans' SOUL presents itself. Like mine, half of it is maroon, the color of my SOUL, while the other is gray, the color of his. Both those colors quickly switch to blue. Sans is then covered by a blue aura. I recognized this, Papyrus used this against me. His "blue attack".

"okay, now, focusing your energy, throw your hand down,"

Sans braces himself for something. I don't exactly know what it was, but from his facial reaction it looked like it was going to hurt. I raise an eyebrow at his sudden switch in attitude. Papyrus even seems a bit worried

"Um...something wrong?"

"...nah, it's fine,"He says,"just go ahead,"

Throwing my hand down, Sans is yanked to the floor. My mouth drops open and I lift my hand up. Sans is pulled to his feet accordingly. He looks dazed for a small bit and I have to quit using my magic. Sans stumbles and falls on his back. I quickly run over to where he was. Both of his eyes were closed as he tries to endure the sudden shock.

"n-nice job, anna," He praises.

"ARE YOU OKAY, BROTHER?" Papyrus frets.

Sans opens an eyesocket.

"i'm fine, paps," Sans says, grinning,"luckily i have a _thick skull_ ,"

I hear Toriel snort.

"UGH! EVEN WHEN YOU'RE IN PAIN!" Papyrus groans.

Sans opens his other eyesocket now.

"hey, i'm practically the punniest skeleton you know,"

I swear to God a rimshot sound just played. Toriel's laughing a bit more now.

"HUMAN, CAN YOU TAKE MY BROTHER UPSTAIRS?" Papyrus asks.

"Sure, Paps, but why?"

"i think he _has a bone to pick with me_ ," Sans says," _no bones about it_ ,"

I chuckle a bit and that just encourages Sans to show a bigger grin and keep making jokes. Toriel is laughing harder now, she's clutching her stomach. The situation wound up with Papyrus getting fed up and heading upstairs himself, leaving Sans on the floor. Sans didn't let that bring him down, as he kept joking around with everybody in the room. I went to the couch and sat down next to Asgore, tired. Asgore looks at me and pulls me close with his left arm.

"Are you...feeling light-headed?" He asks.

"How'd you know?" I respond.

"Using magic requires great amounts of energy," He says,"In truth, not many monsters use magic often because it is so draining. It is why Sans uses his magic on small things. Beings or things that are larger require more energy to control. You started off your powers on Sans, who is much larger than something like a book. You are going to feel more tired than usual,"

"rest up, anna, i'll teach ya some more later today,"

* * *

 **So how was that chapter? I'm actually planning to make a series of one-shots later. It'll all be in one big story so I won't have to make multiple stories for them. You guys can give me your requests in the reviews you send if you have any ideas. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter. Be sure to review, favorite, or follow if you liked it. Until then!**


	9. More School

**I had to work up the strength to do all of this. I swear to god having ideas for multiple stories really hurts the brain. As I type this, my head is pounding from a minor headache...or maybe that's because I've been staring at the screen of a laptop for so long, either way...I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Until then!**

* * *

School finally started up again. Everyday was a rainy mess ever since a few days ago. So everybody had either a raincoat or an umbrella. I had my circle of friends like last time, but now we have another member, Damien. He was a bit unsure whether to come with us or not, but felt that leaving us now would be some sort of betrayal. Steeling himself, he stayed with us to keep our friendship going along nicely. Of course, we treated him as if he's always been there, he was a friend of ours after all! We didn't really want him to feel like he didn't belong here. Belle was still a bit sour and Yusef would frown a couple of times.

"Hey, your back still hurt?" Yusef asks.

"No, actually, I'm completely okay," Damein assures.

"Well, sorry about that fist to the back the other day..."

"No, I deserved it, don't apologize,"

"Saying that only makes me feel worse about it..."

"Alright, enough feeling sorry, you both," Belle interrupts,"What you SHOULD be doing is looking in THAT direction,"

We all turn to look behind Damien and Yusef. Damien's former gang is coming straight towards us. Gene grabs the hand of Alice and walks up towards the front of our group. One boy steps up in front of Damien and gives him a slight glare.

"Why are you with these guys?" The boy asks,"I thought WE were a team. What happened to that?"

"If we were a team, you would've helped me off the ground when I got slugged the other day," Damien retorts,"But you didn't, did you? Instead, you just stood there like idiots!"

"We didn't want to cause more of a commotion!"

"Carter, I know you too well," Damien says,"You don't care about things like that. Don't play innocent and peaceful!"

The boy named Carter glares even more and walks towards Damien. He stands his ground and it almost looked like another fight was going to break out. Luckily, Owen put an end to things right then and there. Owen steps in front of Carter, daring him to come any closer.

"You guys should get moving, it's obvious he isn't coming back to any of ya," Owen says,"And if you _hurt_ him...well, I'll let Yusef do the talking from that point on forward. And I won't stop him like I usually do,"

The group looks towards Yusef, who cracks his knuckles in a threatening way. They slowly edge away before moving away from us completely. Our group surrounds Damien, praising him for standing his ground. The rest of the day went on like normal. When lunch started, we had to stay indoors in the cafeteria since the rain was merciless. Right as we gathered, we noticed that Gene wasn't here. First thing to know about our group: when we aren't taking classes, we're always together. If someone goes missing, the rest will tear apart the school looking for that one person. I'm not lying...seriously. Owen had the guts to go into the girl's bathroom. Luckily I wasn't there at the time. I only knew because the teacher for our math class had a talk to Owen about knowing his boundaries and not going where he shouldn't. That wouldn't have clicked if he hadn't had that odd peach perfume smell. Of course, like most things, Owen blew that lecture off like he does all the others and told his parents nothing happened at school. It's really easy for him to lie with a straight face, like Percival. Percival is better at it though.

Owen headed off to search for Gene without another word. We really don't need to ask Owen to do anything since he already handles himself well without any sort of guidance from anyone else. He only listens to Percival occasionally and THAT only happens if there's something he absolutely doesn't understand.

"Where do you guys think he went?" Belle asks.

"Possibly to the fountain at the garden located in the center of the school," Percival answers.

"What makes you think that?"

"The flower in his hair,"

"What?"

"Over there,"

Percival points to Gene, who's returned with Owen from his miniature journey. He indeed DID have a flower in his hair; it was a dahlia. But he wasn't alone. Along with Gene and Owen, they had a third person. It was a large black scorpion monster. They looked mostly like a larger version of a King Scorpion. They stood atop six legs and wore a crimson red turtleneck. This scorpion doesn't crawl like how ours do; his face isn't near the ground. His head stands up tall atop human-like shoulders and pretty much else you would expect from a human. He was definitely a scorpion, but his upper half was human-like besides the claws. Of course, he had the tough outer layer that scorpions have, so that was a noticeable difference. The monster waves at us with one of its large claws, greeting us silently. Alice begins backing away slowly, hiding behind Percival, who starts laughing. Right, Alice thinks arachnids are completely vile...that's not good...Owen walks over to us and gets back to talking with the group. Gene walks up, holding one of the giant claws his friend had.

"I want you guys to meet Ivan!" Gene says, gesturing to his new friend.

"Hello, I run the school paper!" Ivan says proudly.

"Hello, Ivan!" We all say.

Ivan looks at each of us before tilting his head in confusion.

"I heard that there were seven of you...but I only see six,"

Percival steps out of the way to reveal Alice, whose color practically drains from her face. Ivan walks up to her and gives a smile.

"You must be Alice, the quiet one," Ivan says,"Glad to meet you!"

"H-Hello, I-Ivan..." Alice falters.

Ivan holds out his claw and Alice slowly shakes it. She looks at the rest of us for a moment before darting off somewhere in the school.

"I-I need to go somewhere, see you guys!"

Percival doesn't seem to find this amusing anymore; he's frowning. Yusef just sighs while Owen shrugs, indifferent to her fears. Gene watches Alice as she runs off.

"Where's Alice going?" He asks.

"Nowhere important, Gene," Owen says.

Ivan looks as Alice ducks around a corner and disappears. It takes a bit, but his face droops.

"Did...did she run off because of me?" Ivan asks sadly,"I'm sorry if she did..."

"What? No! Of course not!" Gene says,"She's just busy,"

Ivan doesn't seem convinced, but perks up when he spots me. He walks over to me with an excited look, he claps his claws together (surprisingly, they managed to make a clap sound) and grins widely.

"and YOU must be Anna!" he says,"Gene has told me SO much about you,"

"Really...?" I ask,"Like what?"

"Like the fact that you're half monster,"

I peek at Gene behind Ivan and he grins nervously at me, shrugging.

"Yeah, that's true," I say,"Can you tell me who-"

"Sans the skeleton," He interrupts.

"You're quick,"

"I run the school paper, I've gotta be quick," Ivan says,"Keeping a constant schedule is no joke,"

Percival walks up to Ivan and looks him in the eye. Speaking of which, Ivan's eyes were a beautiful amber color. They'd shine in the light.

"You run the school paper, where's all the supplies?" Percival asks.

Ivan turns around and points towards a giant brown backpack. That thing was huge and I mean HUGE, what was he carrying in there? At least he COULD carry it, but it looked like both Gene and I could fit inside without any problems. A human kid pops out of the front flap on it. We all gather around to see what the heck they were doing. The kid jumps out of the backpack and lands on Ivan's back. He leans his back on the stinger and looks at us. The kid wore a blue plaid shirt. They had black jeans and black and white sneakers. Atop their head was a blue and white striped night cap. They had light brown eyes, black hair, and stared at us with a sort of tired look.

"This is Dae Tyke, my assistant in command," Ivan introduces.

"Hello, you all," Dae says, yawning.

"How long has this kid been in there?" Yusef asks.

"Ivan carries me in this thing," Dae says,"I practically live inside of this pack,"

"Do...you have a home?" I ask.

"I don't know, does Shony have a home?" Dae asks.

"Why would you ask if Sh-...wait a second..."

Well, that's more money being donated to fix the fourth wall...

"Anyways, with the school paper, I'm the one in charge of conveying emotion through writing," Dae finishes,"There are three other people that help with the school paper. Maybe you'll meet 'em one day,"

Dae jumps off of Ivan and walks over to me. Leaning towards my ear, he whispers.

"I'm also the person who writes emotion into this story," he says,"Cool, right?"

How much money do we need to donate!? Usually whenever this kind of thing happens, it only happens ONCE in a chapter! Dae weakly laughs, knowing what I'm thinking, and walks away from us, hopping back into the flap on the front of the huge pack Ivan had. I could hear snoring a short while later. Ivan looks around for a bit before having a sudden realization.

"Dae, you forgot something!" Ivan calls.

The snoring continues...

"DAE!"

Dae peeks his head out of the backpack. He had one of his eyes closed and the other was half open.

"Alright, alright, I'm up. Whaddya want..."

"They don't know what's going on today," Ivan says,"You're closest to the papers, you know. So..."

"Yeah, I get it," Dae says,"Hold on a second,"

Not a moment later, the flap that Dae was in had the latest issues of the school paper fly out towards us. Catching them all, we look over at the print on the front. Dae then quickly hides in his part of the backpack again and goes back to snoring. Ivan shakes his head at the way Dae handled that situation.

"He always does this..." Ivan says,"Honestly, I have no idea why I keep him around,"

"Isn't he essential to your group?" Percival asks.

"Yeah, but I just feel like throwing him out sometimes,"

"Then why not do it?" Owen questions.

Ivan doesn't say anything, but smiles at the part of his backpack which held Dae. I guess he can't hate the guy, regardless of him being lazy.

"Do the teachers know he exists?" Gene asks.

"Actually, along with the rest of the group I'm in, no!" Ivan says,"They think I run the whole thing by myself,"

How exactly is it that Ivan was running the school paper for such a long time, but nobody has found Dae yet? And not just Dae, but everyone else that control the school paper. Looking at the newspaper I was given, I read the main event.

* * *

 **\- RESISTANCE LEADER APPEARS FOR ALL-**

 **'The leader of the well-known gang "The Resistance" is starting to show themselves at long last. For those who DON'T know who the Resistance is, the Resistance is a group of humans that have been known to attack both humans and monsters in an attempt to keep our** **civilization free of any danger. As of late, this group has been cast into a negative light due to the actions of a man named Steven Fordfern.**

 **The man who initially took the blame for the death of Gerson, Carlos Brackett, is now being taken off of probation due to his innocence. Ricky Skarp, the leader, is taking this moment to clear the name of not only himself, but the entire group as a whole. Apparently the group was intended to be a peaceful organization but, unfortunately, came off as malicious due to Fordfern. Today, Ricky Skarp is visiting Jaliceport Elementary to speak to a certain student at the school.'**

* * *

It was Social Studies class. Like always, people are bored out of their mind. Mr. Sanchez is at the front again, everyone is trying not to fall asleep again. Really, I'm indifferent towards it, but there are times where my eyes will slowly close. Luckily we didn't have tests until three weeks went by so for today, I'm going to just half-listen. Charles can help me out with the other half. I WOULD try my best to stay awake, buuuut...the sound of rain was echoing in the room again. If I'm going to fall asleep at least let me do it without anyone interrupting me. I looked at Mr. Sanchez and he even seemed to hang on a few letters in his lecture for a second, fighting off sleep. A while later, the speaker in the corner of the room started broadcasting a loud voice. Everybody in the room snapped awake and groaned loudly. The teacher just glares at the speaker.

"Roberto, if you're giving me that look, please refrain," The voice says.

It sounded like the principal. Mr. Sanchez makes a motion as if he was going to strangle the person on the speaker.

"I need Anna Sathe to come up to the office, okay?"

Mr. Sanchez begins grumbling under his breath.

"OKAY!?" The principal says again.

"Yes, Helen,"

"Good,"

After the principal hangs up, I get out of my seat and head towards the door. Stepping outside, I look towards the doors that led outside. I could see that the sky was darkened once again and puddles were starting to form. They were a lot larger than those a few days ago. I could barely see past the playground. It's gotten a LOT worse outside. Walking around the corners, I notice Ivan speaking to another monster kid right outside of the room where the people make the school paper. That kid looked like a sort of penguin. The penguin had red feathers and a colorful red and orange striped beak. They wore a blue scarf that looked like a music sheet. When I say that, I mean that it had the lines with the notes on it. They looked rather hyperactive, they were constantly moving about sporadically, talking to Ivan, but doing something else simultaneously.

I walk past them and head into the office. The principal is sitting in her chair speaking to a large man. When she notices me, the man turns to face me.

"Oh, hello, Anna," the principal says,"This is Mr. Skarp,"

THAT'S Ricky? Well, looks like Dad and Undyne have a new rival. This guy was built! He had blonde hair and a walrus-styled mustache. His eyebrows were thin and stood proudly over his hazel-colored eyes. He wore black overalls, a white shirt, and indigo-colored loafers. He gave me a smile of sincerity and kindness. The principal goes back to doing whatever principals do on days like these.

"Heya, Anna!" He chirps,"How's your day been?"

This guy is unnaturally happy-go-lucky; his voice was cheery. Even more so than Papyrus. I look towards the principal, giving a look of uncertainty, but she just urges for me to continue.

"I've been okay," I respond,"More importantly, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you," He says,"Is...something wrong with that?"

"No,"

"Good, I needed to speak to you about something,"

"What is it?"

"Well," Ricky says, leaning closer,"I must apologize for your, ahem, near death,"

He whispers that so only I can hear it.

"Oh, no, it's fine," I assure.

"No it isn't, Anna," He says,"I know you're trying to be nice and all, but you've gotta realize, you nearly _died_. I don't want to be reminded of a kid's _death_ day by day,"

I'm unable to find anything else DECENT to say to him. I want to make him happy because he's frowning, but I'm at a loss for words...or maybe...

"But it wouldn't be your fault," I protest.

"Yes it would," Ricky claims,"I started the group. I'm the one who should've been paying attention to the members within it. It's MY fault,"

Wow, this guy is really insistent.

"No, it isn't," I say,"Stop attacking yourself for things you have nothing to do with. It'll destroy you. And besides, didn't you plan for the group to be peaceful?"

"Yes, and I'm glad that we're finally being understood," Ricky says,"Steven is paying for his misdeeds, for certain,"

Well that gives me some hope. Steven really did seem like a well-mannered person. He just cared a SLIGHT bit too much about his friend's situation. You know...I should do something for Steven.

"I think you should forgive Steven," I say.

Ricky pulls away and gives a surprised expression.

"Why should I?" He questions,"His actions were completely unnecessary,"

"Yeah, but he did it all for YOU," I explain.

"...W-what?"

"The guy didn't want to see your family be forgotten," I continue,"He was only doing it because he wanted you to become more focused on. Talk to him, he'd appreciate it, believe me. The guy can't even forgive himself for what happened because you shunned him,"

"The man deserves it!"

"That may be so, but you can't let a honest guy like him be torn apart from the inside out,"

Ricky seems to be getting frustrated with my words.

"His fate is more merciful than anything else he could've been given," He says,"Like I said, he DESERVES it,"

"Ricky, you're no better for saying that," I argue,"He needs to pay his dues, I get that, but you'd let someone who kill a person for your sake be left by himself? You don't have to share his punishment, don't get me wrong, but at least let him feel better about himself!"

I walk towards Ricky, staring him in the eye.

"What he did was wrong, yes, but I feel that he can become a better person than what he already is," I speak,"You seem like a guy that knows a person's potential, why not help him realize his?"

Ricky still seems pretty upset with my proposal, but he starts to slowly relax. He nods to me and tells the principal he's leaving. I head back to class since he's gone. As I walk down the hallways once more, I smile to myself.

I don't know if things will work out, but for Steven's sake, I hope so.

* * *

 **I thought it was about time for Ricky to show himself! Also, I got the idea of Dae from the way I write my stories. I felt that there were four sides to myself, and that they all control how the stories flow and what's in them. Dae is the controller of emotions, like it was explained in the chapter. There was also another side to myself put into this chapter. I want you guys to review and tell me who it was. I'll let you know if you got it right in the next chapter. Anyways, if you enjoyed this chapter, be sure to review, favorite, or follow. Until then!**


	10. Ups and Downs

**G'day everyone. This is not Shonex speaking, but Dae. You guys remember me, right? I control the emotions that are written into this story. Anyway, this chapter focuses more around Gerald, Anna's father. I've noticed that he isn't getting as much attention as the other characters, and so I've notified Wilbur, the one who controls plot, to tweak the story a bit. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. G'day all!**

* * *

It was ANOTHER rainy day. But this time, everyone was forced to stay home. The weather outside was too dangerous for anyone to safely travel. Most of the storm was down in Jaliceport, but we got bad weather up here all the same. It was so bad, we couldn't even see the path that lead down into our town. We had to huddle up in the living room so that if somehow the door bust open, we wouldn't be slaughtered by all of the crazy weather. Not a second after everyone had gathered, the door bust open and quickly shut. It was Carlos.

"Hey, hey! You can't just barge in here like a maniac!"Dad snaps.

"Yeah, yeah, but we gotta go," Carlos says.

Everyone looked at each other with a confused face. We just sort of figured that waiting out the storm would be the best option.

"Not to be rude, but where are we supposed to go with weather like this?" Asgore asks.

"W-we can't even step two feet outside without being soaked with rain!" Alphys adds.

"Anywhere else is better than here," Carlos says,"Just find a place. I'm sure, Anna, that your father knows somewhere you can go,"

Everyone turns to Dad and he just puts his hands up in a defensive way. He looks at us, then Carlos, then back again.

"Can you close the door!?" Dad snaps.

"Whoops,"

* * *

So we were going to see Grandpa Baxter. Dad apparently doesn't like him all that much. Mostly because of the fact that when he wanted to move to Jaliceport, Grandpa detested it. The reason for that is because Jaliceport is right next to Mount Ebott, and Grandpa was afraid he'd fall down there. Dad calls Grandpa Baxter a controlling man whose mind you can't change. That's why Dad didn't stick around his old village. We had to split up the group into separate vehicles. Everyone seemed to be evacuating the town. They have a good reason to do so as well, part of it is completely flooded. Grillby's is surrounded by water. Luckily, Grillby is on his way out of the town as well. Buildings are starting to collapse from the quick corrosion so people have to take the marked "safe routes" around town. Cars left and right surrounded us as we all rushed to get out of the area. Asgore, Dad, Undyne, Sans, and I were sitting in a red van. Everyone else was in the other vehicle.

"So, how has Grandpa been doing?" I ask.

"Same as always, Anna," Dad says.

Dad said that with a sort of snappish tone. He must REALLY dislike his father. I'm sure he can't be that bad.

"Is something bothering you, Gerald?" Asgore asks.

Dad sighs.

"No, Asgore," He lies,"I'm fine,"

"Gerald, I know that tone," Asgore says.

"Listen, can we just get there!?" Dad says,"Today is already bad enough, I don't need to be pressured!"

Asgore sits back in his seat and stares out the window, frowning.

"Wow, your dad got the big guy silent!" Undyne says,"What's his deal?"

"I don't know...he refuses to say," I explain,"I know that Dad said Grandpa didn't want him in this town, but there's gotta be more to it than just that,"

Dad is grumbling to himself. I could hear him mutter words like "deadbeat dad" and "control freak". Everyone in my family has been well-mannered from what I've seen. I don't know if it's possible that Grandpa Baxter is such a difference. But considering Dad is his son...I won't completely doubt it. Speaking of which, I need to ask Dad a question.

"Dad, you remember the old Jaliceport, right?" I ask.

"Yeah, Anna,"Dad confirms.

"That man, Steven, went and told us the story of Olden Jaliceport,"

"So what about it?"

"You never said any sort of thing about it before," I say,"I want to know why. Things like that can't just be ignored,"

"I just didn't feel it was important,"

"Steven knew that you were around during that time," I begin,"Do you two know each other?"

"Listen, I'm not saying that-"

"So you do?"

"Anna, you shouldn't interrupt your father," Asgore scolds.

I nod apologetically, readjusting myself in my seat and placing my hands in my lap.

"I'm not saying that we share a close connection, but, yes, I know who he is," Dad says,"He was my fraternity brother. He was really distant back then,"

"Did you know he was in the Resistance?" I ask.

"Well, not exactly,"

"So you DID know,"

"..."

"You KNEW!?" Undyne yells,"YOU DIDN'T TELL US THIS!"

We finally escaped the storm. We pull over a hill and head into the next area.

"Gerald, is it true?" Asgore asks.

Dad says nothing.

"Gerald..."

"..."

"Gerald,"

"..."

"GERALD!"

I flinch from Asgore's suddenly frustrated voice.

"LISTEN, I DIDN'T WANT TO PUSH THAT THOUGHT AT THE FRONT OF MY MIND!"

"You could've at least said something!"

Asgore and Dad were at each other's throats in this argument. I never thought I'd see the day where ASGORE of all people raises his voice. Even Undyne looks shaken up, and just a second ago, SHE was raising her voice too. Now, she's just as speechless as me.

"Your silence put everyone at risk!"

"But we were all alive, weren't we!?"

"YOUR DAUGHTER NEARLY DIED!"

Then, silence. Asgore was glaring, but after he realized what he just said, he quickly shut himself up. His face took on a "I just realized I screwed up" look. Dad didn't say anything, Asgore didn't say anything, UNDYNE sure as heck didn't speak at ALL. Dad was grasping the wheel tightly, I could see the veins on his hands more clearly.

"I. Know," Dad spat,"And if you think I'm so blind to not realize that, you're an idiot, not gonna sugarcoat it,"

Whoever this guy is, he isn't my dad. We're pulling into a small village. After everyone in the car gets out, and the rest of the group in the other unpack everything, Asgore heads out towards the van and sits in it. He was completely silent whilst everyone else was chattering about how Jaliceport was going. As I head towards him, Dad comes out of the house with another man. This man was a tad bit bigger than Dad and gave a constant scowl. I'm assuming that's my Grandpa Baxter. Boy, he looks irritated. Dad walks up to me and pulls me towards the man. The person looked down at me and smirked.

"He told me he had a daughter, but I'd never thought I'd see the day. I'm proud," He says.

"How...glad I am to meet your expectations?" Dad says.

The man nods.

"Name's Baxter, call me Grandpa," He says,"Or don't. Don't really care,"

He seems pretty tame to me. I wonder what Dad meant about him being controlling. He sure doesn't seem that way. Dad was called over by the rest of the group. They were forming near the van where Asgore had gone to think. Grandpa Baxter takes my hand and leads me over to where they were. Undyne was yelling at Dad now, angrier than what she had been before. Baxter just raises an eyebrow in confusion. He looks towards me with a bored face.

"Your old man did somethin'?" Grandpa asks.

"I don't really need to explain, just listen," I say.

Dad was standing in front of the door of the van where Asgore was sitting. The rest of the group closed Dad in.

"I-Is it true, Gerald?" Alphys asks,"You knew about the Resistance?"

"Look, if I said I did, will you guys just drop it!?" Dad yells.

"How long, Gerald?" Toriel questions.

"..."

"hey, buddy, you might wanna answer," Sans pries.

"When was Anna's eleventh birthday?" Dad asks.

"UNBELIEVABLE," Papyrus says.

My birthday was a month before Gerson died. So Dad knew about that team long before any of us did.

"Why didn't you say anything!?" Undyne yells.

"Because none of you people were getting hurt at that time!"

"But because you didn't say anything, Anna and Sans BOTH got hurt!" Undyne says,"And it doesn't matter WHAT time, you have to let us know!"

"Well, hey, you can blame Sans for bringing Anna out so late!"

"The onslaughts got less frequent, it isn't his fault!" Flowey cuts in.

"and besides, I'M not the one that knew about the group a month before they killed someone," Sans counters,"if i was anna's dad, i'd at least tell her that much instead of letting her walk straight into danger,"

"OH SURE, LEAVE IT TO A DAMN MONSTER TO TELL _ME_ HOW TO BE A DAD!"

SLAM!

"Oooooh, that hurt," Grandpa says.

Asgore launched his fist into the back of Dad's head. As soon as that happened, Asgore went back to angrily staring off into space, gritting his teeth while he did so. As soon as Dad realized what he said to everybody, his eyes go wide.

"H-hey, listen, I didn't mean-"

"Let's go, everyone," Undyne says.

Everyone else begins to scatter around the village. I'm left staring at Dad with Grandpa Baxter, a look of disbelief on my face. Dad turns in my direction and tries to explain himself.

"Anna, please understand, I-"

"I thought you liked having them around, Dad," I said.

"I-I do! Really!"

"Then what was all THAT about?"

"..."

I turn to follow the group around the village.

"Anna, wait!"

"Leave me alone, Dad,"

After I leave, Grandpa goes over to Dad. Dad slides down the side of the car and sits on the ground, burying his head in his hands. Grandpa pats Dad on the back, trying to calm him down.

"I'm sorry..." Dad says.

* * *

 **So how'd you like Wilbur's work? I find it to be a tad bit different from what he usually writes, but I guess that's just his nature. You know, it's actually a bit surprising that he's able to make these stories in the first place. Wilbur's blind! Anyways, as Shonex would probably say, if you enjoyed this chapter, please review, favorite, or follow for more updates on this story. G'day all!**


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